‘Illegalities’ in Cuba: A Two-Level Issue

Starfish Cayo Largo (Source: Hotel website)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 5 November 2022 — In a previous post we highlighted the actions of confrontation with illegalities that have been launched by the communist regime in Havana. The state press reported actions of control and monitoring in establishments and points of sale in the capital in the local development project of Recreatur Paseo Marítimo 1ra and 70, in the municipality of Playa, where, among other “illegalities,” workers were detected illicitly selling 39.47 pounds of lobster and nine pounds of shrimp. The official note said that equally abusive and speculative prices were found with excessive profits in products such as soft drinks and canned beers, mineral water and cans of Redbull. We have to see what illegalities are so serious.

As a result, the so-called municipal confrontation groups concerned with the illicit sale of food, hoarding, diversion of resources and abusive prices carried out four confiscations and imposed 41 fines, of which 37 were by the Directorate of Inspection, two by the Provincial Directorate of Finance and Prices and two by the National Directorate of State Inspection of the Food Industry (ONIE).

Another official report said that an operation in the Melones store, in the municipality of Diez de Octubre, found as “illegalities” that workers retained goods, and that 6,129 pesos were missing, corresponding to the sales of the day. In this case, the communist authorities seized 11 packages of chicken, six of minced meat, three cartons of H. Upman cigarettes, 14 Sedal shampoo bottles and three bottles of conditioner, which were later sold to the population.

A night inspection was also carried out in the Cuba-Italia, Ciro Redondo and Gran Esfuerzo bakeries and detected that the standardized bread was low in weight and didn’t meet the quality parameters established in the technical standards charts. For these “illegalities,” master bakers and administrators were fined 8,000 pesos for violating the provisions regarding rules and prices.

There were also sanctions in the area of El Lido, in Havana, where the inspection bodies imposed fines of 8,000 pesos on a group of self-employed, for the fixing of abusive prices. On the other hand, in the municipality of Playa, the owner of a private cafeteria was fined 1,500 pesos for not being able to justify his possession of soft drinks, rums, sweets and cookies with the corresponding invoices. Two forklift operators were also fined 8,000 for establishing abusive prices on the sale of onions (600 pesos per pound), tomatoes (300 pesos per pound), lemons (250-300 pesos per pound) and peppers (350-400 pesos per pound). continue reading

The official note reports that in the Cojímar People’s Council two citizens were detected and arrested for the illegal sale of medicines; and in Guanabo the Police were led to an individual for illegal sale of shrimp. Finally, in an operation carried out at the Víbora Park People’s Council, in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, 116 cartons of eggs, 43 packs of detergent, 34 bath soaps, 29 packs of wet wipes and 23 packs of sanitary napkins were dealt with in a home-warehouse.

The official press wants to draw attention to all these “illegalities” without granting to those sanctioned the right to a defense. They are simply fined, which in many cases, amounts to a month’s income.

The logical thing is that many of these producers stop providing their services and, as a result, consumers will find stalls closed and less merchandise to buy. It’s the same story of the last 63 years, and in addition, the communist regime warns of it even in the constitution: in Cuba private enrichment is not allowed.

The informal market can arise to satisfy the social needs not met by the state, but at any time, the authorities can persecute, harass and eliminate it with a stroke of a pen and that’s it. There is no country in the world where it’s so risky to engage in a private economic activity. Yes, the communist regime says it is fighting against “illegalities” that harm the national economy. But this is not entirely true.

For example, add up the amount of those “illegalities” that appear in this article, and you will see that it doesn’t exceed 200,000 pesos [ed note: $8,000 US as of today’s exchange rate]. That may not even be the total figure. We are talking about a ridiculous amount by Western standards, which may not even cover the salaries of police, inspectors and snitches, but in Cuba, the sanctioned will have a very bad time. There is no doubt about it. And this is what is intended with this type of repressive action.

In addition, everything happens because, according to the communist economic model imposed on the country, certain activities are qualified as “illegal” by the government. Of course, these activities aren’t illegal elsewhere, but in Cuba the parameters are different, and it depends on how it looks.

A good example of the parameter of “illegalities” in this case, committed by the regime that punishes Havana sellers, is how, for example, the hotel exploitation system of Cuba works.

It turns out that the state press these days has reported that Blue Diamond Resorts, exclusively, will begin operations in Cayo Largo del Sur. The Canadian hotel company Blue Diamond Resorts together with its Cuban counterpart in the business, the Gran Caribe Group, whose shareholding is known for its links with the regime, announce that four of 11 renovated properties in Cayo Largo del Sur will open their doors on November 4. The hotels that welcome the renovated destination are Memories Cayo Largo, Starfish Cayo Largo, The Villas Linda Mar and Marina.

When was the bidding and awarding of this business carried out? Was there any kind of oversight or was it awarded by decree. We find ourselves suddenly tongue-tied at witnessing a first “illegality”: in recent months the regime had been planning to transfer the hotels, which supposedly belong to the people, as productive assets to this Canadian hotel group.

In addition, the award has been made according to the global interests of citizens around the world, since Cubans will find the prices beyond their reach when these resorts open. Second “illegality.” Cubans cannot enjoy tourism in their own country.

So with these two sonorous “illegalities,” easy to appeal in independent courts, the first doesn’t invite other international companies to participate; and the second, the objective difficulty that those who are paid their salaries and pensions in Cuban pesos would have to be able to stay in these resorts. However the communist regime pursues the illegalities of poverty, of the eternal “resolving a problem,” of unmet needs, specifically for the Havana merchants, accusing them of illegalities and destroying their small businesses.

On the other hand, the same communist regime, with high-caliber “illegalities,” has made Blue Diamond Resorts Cuba the fastest growing hotel management company in the country, leaving behind other companies that already operated with the favor of the regime.

In reality, when we talk about illegalities in Cuba, we access a whole universe of injustices that have their most evident example in the crony capitalism and illicit pacts that exist in the tourism system. There is no need to think too hard. Someone will have taken a cut from the Blue Diamond deal. From time to time. So yes, there are illegalities… and multimillionaires.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Confusion and Annoyance in Cuba Over the Registration of Generators to Buy Gasoline

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 8 November 2022 — Barely two or three people in line filled their generators this Tuesday at the service center on Libertadores de Holguín Avenue. A day before, there were more than thirty customers, and their photos spread like wildfire on independent networks and media.

At the back of the long line they had already heard the news about the fuel shortage that plagues the country, which requires increasingly strict rationing measures. In Holguín, in particular, the owners of generators are obliged to “register” the device in the Cupet if they want to receive 2.6 gallons of gasoline.

“First we were told that the district delegate was in charge of making the list of generators that people have, especially those who use them to maintain a cafeteria or a rental house,” says Elisa, the owner of a guest house in that city. “But on the weekend, another neighbor who also rents to foreigners told me that we had to wake up on Monday and go to the gas station to be able to register the generator.”

At the gas station, they found more people in the same situation, some with their physical power plants, others with a photo or something that showed ownership of the device.

“The employees didn’t know very well what to do, but they finally noted down the identity card and serial number of each generator,” Elisa says. continue reading

The confusion was because, in reality, the latest official provisions for the province leave nothing explicit regarding this new “census.” According to a publication by the Cimex state corporation in Holguín on November 1, from that day on, a “scheme” would be established to “organize and expedite the dispatch of fuel,” indicating the type of vehicle, device or need for each Cupet gas station.

The one on Libertadores Avenue would serve for generators, “all fuels,” private and state cars, basic services, people with disabilities and tourism (“when there is no availability or current in Transtur,” they specify). Nothing was said, however, about quantity or frequency.

This Monday, after standing between motorcyclists and cars, Elisa bought her first 2.6 gallons of gasoline and was told to stop by the service center in the next few days to see what the “final” schedule would be to buy again. They detailed: “At the moment it’s between 10 and 12 days, depending on the availability of fuel.”

The young woman took the opportunity to leave her tax number in case that can help her in the future to buy more fuel for her private business, which shows her desperation and that of so many others in the same situation. “I have to guarantee customers that they will at least have a light in the bathroom if there is a power outage.”

User comments on Cimex’s provincial publication are full of complaints and criticism. “Every time they talk about ’reordering’* they make things worse; this country needs resources, not reordering,” complains Yunier Batista González.

“What they tell me about the licensed private motorcycles is that only the Cupet 4 de Abril is assigned to them for fuel, and they have to share it with all the other motorcycles that aren’t licensed,” says Yamil Naciff, who wonders why they are assigned a certain Cupet if “we are also taxi drivers… They don’t take us into account at all or give us importance, and that’s very serious, because we support our families with that work. Fuel instability kills us.”

Ivan Alexander Chacón, who explains his situation, believes that the new measures don’t solve anything: “I’m seeing it in person. I have been in line for three days and on a list to buy [fuel] for my motorcycle in La Loma. I needed to travel to Cacocum, and I couldn’t buy because I was from Holguín. You have to make sure to go to the Cupet and not miss [your turn]; this madness is seen only in the province of Holguín.”

In the same vein, Reydel Pereira protests: “I don’t know what happens with Holguín. Everything here is a line, scarcity and high prices, because in Havana this doesn’t happen, in Santiago this doesn’t happen.”

The panorama in Holguín, however, is neither new nor unique. The first province to decree a rationing system for generators, more in demand as the blackouts increased, was Pinar del Río. There, since last August 20, only 5 gallons of gasoline are sold to generator owners “when it’s in stock in the Cupet.” To prove membership, they must present their identity card and proof “of ownership of the generator” to the Municipal Directorate of Economy and Planning.

In Havana, anyone who wants to buy fuel for their generator must also prove they own it, although they only need to bring the serial number to the service center, where 5 gallons will be dispatched, as reported to 14ymedio this same Tuesday by an employee of the Cupet at 25th and G, in El Vedado. Of course, he pointed out, “only when there is [fuel], because now there is nothing at all.”

*Translator’s note: The commentator is referring to the so-called  “Ordering Task” [tarea ordenamiento] which is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso (CUP) as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency, which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘Inspectors Monitor the Sale of Tomatoes in Cuba as if They Were Lobster Tails’

The 19th and B market, in El Vedado, is almost entirely privately managed and is governed by the law of supply and demand. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 7 November 2022 — What is expected this season, when temperatures begin to fall in Cuba, is that tomatoes will reach the markets. However, this year, the fruit is absent from many agricultural stands in Havana. The reason is the daily police raids, launched recently, against high prices, and the decision of merchants to withdraw the product so as not to sell at a loss.

“There is no one selling tomatoes in this market,” said a young man this Sunday morning. He manages one of the stands at the Juvenile Labor Army (EJT) premises on Tulipán Street, in Nuevo Vedado. “We have been told that we can’t sell them for more than 200 pesos per pound, and that amount doesn’t give us a good profit,” he adds, speaking to 14ymedio.

This weekend, in the different kiosks located in the EJT market, you could see burro bananas, cabbages, sweet potatoes and leeks, but not the characteristic red color of the tomatoes needed to make a tasty salad. “That product is candela. You get a fine right away,” the young man warned.

“To be able to recover the investment, a tomato must be sold right now at 250 to 270 pesos a pound,” says Jorge, a 38-year-old habanero who transports goods from the area of Güira de Melena and Alquízar, in the province of Artemisa, to the 19th and B market in El Vedado. “Below that price I would now be working at a loss.” continue reading

The El Vedado market, known for its wide variety of products and high prices, is almost entirely privately managed and is governed by the law of supply and demand. An avocado at 100 pesos, a pound of small onions at 350, and cucumber at 80, turn a modest purchase in that market into a four-figure bill.

“They come here to try to pressure us to lower prices, but they are the same ones who later sell you beer in a state restaurant for more than 180 pesos,” Jorge says. “For us everything has become more expensive, too, from the fuel that we get ’on the left’ to the price that the farmer puts on his harvest.”

“What people are doing is that they prefer not to bring some products for sale here in the market,” he explains to this newspaper. “If through digital sites, where they buy from abroad for their family in Cuba, a product can be sold at a more reasonable price for us, what need is there to look for a fine by bringing the merchandise here?”

In on-line sites aimed at emigrants, a pound of tomatoes is around 4 dollars, almost 500 pesos at the official exchange rate. Deliveries are made directly to homes, and the customer pays online with their credit or debit card. “You get rid of the inspectors, the police and having to hide the product every time they warn you of a raid,” Jorge explains. “If it continues like this, the only ones who will be able to eat a tomato salad will be those who have family in Miami.”

In markets such as the EJT, administered by the military, the pressures on merchants are greater. “It’s not that we have been banned from selling tomatoes, but they might as well have done so, because they want to force us to keep the price low; but on the other hand when asked if prices are capped, they tell you that no, it’s not that, it’s part of a battle against illegalities,” explains the intermediary.

For the official press, it’s not a question of recovering investments but of speculating. “In other words: it’s about obtaining, by all those involved in the chain, logical profit margins, from fair and reasonable sales prices, contrary to those who, with legal status or not, monopolize the productions, speculate and fleece the public without a minimum of modesty,” the official State newspaper Granma pronounced this Sunday.

“It’s urgent to close all loopholes to the flight of products to illicit destinations, and call to account those who participate directly in selling, calling themselves markets, plazas, points of sale, pushcarts or street vendors,” threatened the official organ of the Communist Party.

The offensive also extends to sellers who, like Dayron, offer their goods on a tricycle in some corner of Havana. “Last week I was fined 6,000 pesos that I haven’t yet been able to pay. The inspector told me that I couldn’t sell chopped onion at 1,000 pesos or tomatoes at 220, as I was doing.”

With his point of sale, Dayron travels through some parts of the Los Sitios neighborhood. “Now you have to sell a tomato as if it were a lobster tail. Carefully watching that an inspector or policeman doesn’t approach,” the man says. “I prefer that they spoil at home and my wife has to turn them into puree, but at 150 or 180 pesos a pound, I won’t be able to to sell them.”

And he concludes: “That’s what they did with pork: they began to impose fines on the sellers, and the result was that pork was lost from the markets. Now it’s the tomato’s time, and tomorrow the time will come for something else, the malanga or the cucumber; it makes no difference, because they just want to control everything.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Two Senior U.S. Officials Will Travel to Havana for a Meeting on Migration

U.S. officials Rena Bitter and Ur Mendoza Jaddou (in the center), flanked by Guyana ministers Vindhya Persaud and Hugh Todd. (Twitter/@EmbassyGuyana)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 7 November 2022 – – Rena Bitter, Undersecretary of Consular Affairs of the U.S. State Department, and Ur Mendoza Jaddou, Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, will visit Havana as part of a tour that also includes Georgetown (Guyana) and Miami (Florida), until this coming Thursday.

In the Cuban capital, according to the brief statement made public this Monday by the State Department, they will meet with government officials to discuss the “total resumption” of immigrant visa services in Havana “at the beginning of 2023” and the recent resumption of Parole for Family Reunification interviews at the same diplomatic headquarters.

The official U.S. note also reports that in Guyana, Bitter would express her gratitude “for the country’s cooperation in consular services,” which includes the processing of U.S. immigrant visas for Cubans at the Georgetown Embassy since 2018, a pressing issue for hundreds of families on the Island, who want the option of migrating by family reunification. continue reading

On its social networks, this Monday, the U.S. diplomatic headquarters in Georgetown showed the officials together with the Minister of Human Services and Social Security of Guyana, Vindhya Persaud, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd, indicating in a message that they discussed the process of international adoptions in The Hague and “the reduced waiting times for nonimmigrant visas in Guyana.”

“The Hague Adoption Agreement provides greater security, predictability and transparency for all those involved in international adoptions,” the State Department said in a tweet. “We welcome Guyana’s commitment to protect children and parents.”

From Guyana, and before Havana, Bitter will visit Miami, where, according to the same official statement, she will review the U.S. passport facilities “and meet the staff.”

Both officials will arrive in Havana a little more than a week after the death of seven Cuban balseros [rafters] — one more remains missing — after the small boat they were in was  rammed by a speedboat from the Cuban Border Guards, in Bahía Honda, Artemisa.

They also arrive at a time when the exodus has exceeded 224,000 people in just one year, a figure that far exceeds the previous major migratory waves of the Island, in 1980 and 1994, and that doesn’t stop.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Human Rights Group Registered 398 Repressive Actions in Cuba in October

The scene in Cuba continues to be unfavorable for the exercise of democracy and freedom of expression. The Island maintains 967 political prisoners and repression is growing. (Roxana García Lorenzo/Facebook/Capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 4 November 2022 — Police summons, expulsions from the workplaces, fines and arbitrary arrests are some of the 398 repressive actions taken by the Cuban regime against the Island’s civilian population during the month of October. The estimate was taken from a report by the Cuban Human Rights Observatory (OCDH), published on Thursday.

The Madrid-based organization, states that 130 of the cases observed suffered arbitrary arrests, while the rest (268) were related to other types of abuse of authority. The network of OCDH observers points to an additional 116 events of harassment of activists in their homes and 61 other harassments. 

Other types of repression are direct aggression, preventing people from leaving the country, severe trials, and firing. OCDH took the opportunity while commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Accord (ADPC) between the European Union (EU) and Cuba to demand a general review of the agreement, “due to the null results in terms of human rights.”

Yaxys Cires, Director of Strategies at the Observatory, stated that “the Cuban regime continues applying an iron fist not only against activists, but also against the entire population that peacefully protests the terrible situation the country is experiencing.” continue reading

He added that the EU-Cuba Joint Council, which is expected to meet soon according to an announcement made by the European diplomat, Josep Borrell, “should analyze deeply these realities and move beyond words to actions.”

On Tuesday, the European Union’s representatives in Havana announced on Twitter that they continued to be “committed” to the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Accord in place since 2017 and with the “implementation of all its pillars.”

However, OCDH points out that the scene in Cuba continues to be unfavorable for the exercise of democracy and freedom of expression. The Island maintains 967 political prisoners, repression is growing, and it has approved “a new criminal code further endangers the exercise of human rights, even increasing the number of crimes punishable by death.”

Furthermore, the collapse of the National Electric System, the shortages and lack of political freedoms provoked a new wave of protests in recent months, to which the government responded with violence and more arrests.

Faced with this panorama in Cuba, “the EU must demand real change,” stated Cires, “otherwise, immediately review the validity of the ADPC and impose individual sanctions on repressors.”

The OCDH, composed of activists, politicians, and a network of observers on the Island, has a history of denouncing systemic human rights violations by the regime against citizens in Cuba.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Victor, the Puppeteer who Raises a Smile on the Faces of Cubans in the Midst of Poverty

In Calle Obispo, Old Havana, you can find Víctor, with a puppet that moves to the rhythm of his paintbrushes. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo/Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 6 November 2022 – Street Artists, fortune tellers, beggars, Tarot readers, palm readers, wizards, promise-keepers, pickpockets. Old Havana is constantly in turmoil and those who live there have to earn a crust by any means possible. Skill, cunning and a ’creole’ type of flair are, in the midst of the general poverty of the country, the only tools available for being able to go home with a bit of money in the pocket.

On Calle Obispo, people push and shove, trying frenetically to make their way about, going in and out of shops, pharmacies, kiosks and snack bars. Then it catches the attention that there’s a group of people who are there to block the way and detain you — under an overhanging roof. And there… you find Víctor, a silent young man, hidden behind the miniature canvas curtains of his Galería Morionet. 

Víctor operates the strings of his little puppet theatre — whose name combines that of the painter Claude Monet with the word ’marionette’ — and he makes his puppet, a Cuban skilled like himself, draw a portrait of a man on a piece of cardboard.

It’s a refined skill, and not the kind of skill that can be learnt in a mere couple of weeks. The puppet master pulls on his strings and the puppet shakes his paintbrush, fills it with watercolour and moves towards the easel. Sometimes a dog approaches and the puppet artist looks up at him cautiously, without stopping his work, and then he strokes its nose.

People watch the scene, fascinated. The puppet paints in a messy kind of dump that might be any habanero’s place, splattered with paint stains and continue reading

above which hang two unstable-looking balconies. Louis Armstrong’s blues plays in the little room, and, when the music stops, some coins drop into the Galería Morionet’s tray.

Unless they are tourists the passers-by aren’t able to offer much, and, after distracting themselves from their worries for a little while with the show, they have to continue walking on through a city that gets more and more inhospitable. Two police officers eye the youth with suspicion; he carries on with his work without paying them too much attention.

On the sidewalks the waiters of the paladares [private restaurants] spring on the passers-by, interrupting them and unfurling their menus without anyone being able to stop them. None of the habaneros can afford the luxury of dining out in Old Havana, but the waiters have to be seen to be active and charming, in order for the owner, who also must defend his business, to justify their salaries.

Sitting on the sidewalk, a mixed-race boy, dressed spotlessly in white, offers a card reading. Next to him, water and a cloth on which sits his deck of cards, ready for the next fortune-telling. But nobody stops, and, bored, he stands up to smooth out his clothes, and then resumes sitting.

On another corner a cartoonist draws the portraits of celebrities like Chucho Valdés and Alicia Alonso. Children beg their parents to let him draw them and the man gets to work: back bent over, he holds a board in one hand and with the other he manipulates his ballpoint pen.

Stilt-walkers have also become part of the scenery in the city, especially in groups which roam those streets with more tourists. Noisy and colourfully dressed, these urban artistes hardly manage to get, these days, more than a couple of notes stuffed into their hats — made from remnants and bells — as the fewer number of travellers arriving in the city has left them practically without customers.

Mounted on their wooden stilts they wait on some corner or other for a Transtur coach to discharge its small group of passengers around the Plaza de Armas or the Castillo de la Fuerza. Their show is brief, to avoid the tourists returning to the coach before having left a bit of money, which, amongst all the laughter and song the performers make sure to tell them that “euros or dollars” would be better received “by these particular street artistes”.

Beyond the tourist area the situation takes on sadder tones. It’s not unusual to meet an old lady in a dirty dressing gown begging for money to buy a few pounds of sweet potatoes, or a ’promise-keeper’ dragging a stone tied to his ankle with a chain. As he approaches, as if he were a soul in purgatory, he holds out a bowl for someone to throw in some ’kilos’. The people who watch him, shocked by the marks on his leg, have little to give him.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

‘We Don’t Even Have Bread for Communion’ Says a Priest in Cuba

Every diocese orders the hosts it needs from the nuns, picks them up in Havana and pays a modest fee to help support the sisters. (Screen capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, 3 November 2022 — The monastery of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Saint Teresa in Havana produces most of the communion wafers, or “hosts,” consumed by the island’s Catholics. On Wednesday the nuns announced in an online statement that they would not be able to manufacture or sell any more of them, paralyzing a distribution system that has been operating for decades.

“We’ve been working with what little flour that was left but we’ve already run out of that stockpile,” wrote the nuns, for whom the sale of hosts was one of their sources of income.

The announcement has aroused the solidarity of many Catholics on the island as well as of Cuban exiles in Spain and the United States, who have taken the opportunity to send raw materials to the Havana convent. The sisters have also set up a phone line for anyone who might want to help.

“Since production has been halted, we’ll have to stretch the existing hosts, almost like [the biblical parable of] multiplying the loaves,” says Fr. Jose Luis Preyo, a Spanish priest working in the town of Caibarién, in Villa Clara province. “We’ll have to divide each host into two or three pieces until the supply is replenished.”

Pueyo explains that priests from every parish goes to their local bishops once a month to pick up hosts for their congregations. “It’s not a product that will keep indefinitely,” he points out. “It’s better not to wait too long before consuming it. That’s why production and supply have to be ongoing.”

As for the Carmelite nuns of Havana — they were the subject of the 2015 Spanish documentary “A Million Hosts” — he describes their work as “doing a favor for the  island’s dioceses.” The money they receive for the continue reading

hosts also allows the convent to be economically self-sufficient. “If this turns out to be a chronic problem, which seems unlikely, we would have to import hosts from overseas, as we do now with sacramental wine. We would also have to find dioceses or parishes to produce them, which has already happened to some extent, or to consecrate ordinary bread,” says the priest.

As for the latter option, Pueyo says that this could only be done with bread made from wheat flour without any additives or fillers, something impossible to find in Cuba.

“The hosts are distributed on a monthly basis,” says Pedro, a lay administrator in Villa Clara. “Every diocese orders the hosts it needs from the nuns, picks them up in Havana and pays a modest fee to help support the sisters.

Pedro speculates that the host shortage will lead to rumors about the Catholic church’s relationship with the government. He claims the nuns have an agreement with the regime to supply them with flour but that the government has not lived up to its end of the deal.

“It’s worth noting that Pope Francis does not supply the flour, as some people think, nor is it his responsibility. Every country has its own system for producing and distributing hosts.” He says some hosts are also produced at the local level in Cuba though he admits he does not know how this is done.

Sebastian, a layperson working for the diocese of Matanzas, claims the Carmelites produce all the hosts consumed by the western half of the island. “Years ago the nuns were able to modernize their operation. It’s not ordinary bread. It’s a wafer whose dough must be cooled in a very exacting way, then placed on very hot metal sheets, where it is shaped and cut,” he explains.

Sebastian does not believe a shortage of communion wafers will disrupt religious life in Cuba but he cautions, “It will severely impact the lives of thousands of Catholics who attend Sunday mass.”

He also points out that Catholics are not the only ones affected. “Evangelicals, Anglicans and Orthodox Christians rely on the archdiocese to provide them with hosts for their own religious services.”

“It’s not the first time we’ve faced a crisis but, so far, we’ve always been able to overcome any obstacle. But this time there’s an announcement that speaks louder that a thousand words about the hardships we are facing. It is as though the old saying ‘We don’t even have bread for communion’ were literally true.”

Shortages of raw materials have significantly affected churches and church-related endeavors. Sebastian recalls that, some time ago, Vida Cristiana — a nearly 60-year old Jesuit publication that was one of those which published the Carmelite nuns’ announcement — faced a serious paper shortage. Dozens of other Cuban religious publications faced the same problem, forcing them to delay printing or to shut down entirely.

“Another problem is the electricity shortage. What kind of manufacturing operations can survive  blackouts that last for more than twelve hours?” he asks.

Although the protests over shortages and blackouts seem to have subsided, many people in the country’s interior still suffer from long power outages. These hardships, along with the imprisonment of demonstrators and worsening living conditions, have led the island’s priests and nuns to denounce the situation.

Alberto Reyes, a priest in Camaguey province, posted a message of support to the demonstrators: “Given the unacceptable lack of electricity in Esmeralda, if anyone is going to hold a peaceful protest, let me know so I can ring the church bells.”

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

U.S. Pro-Castro Groups Bring Food and Medical Supplies to Cuba

The donation includes surgical gloves and medical supplies that will be sent to Pinar del Río, the province most devastated by Hurricane Ian. (Prensa Latina)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 6 November 2022 — On Saturday, United States solidarity groups brought to Cuba a donation consisting of pasta, powdered milk and medical supplies, state media reported.

The shipment includes surgical gloves and medical supplies that will be sent to Pinar del Río (in the west), a province affected a month ago by Hurricane Ian, according to state television Canal Habana.

Cuban-American professor Carlos Lazo, manager of the Puentes de Amor project, and the American, Medea Benjamin, leader of the Code Pink organization, delivered the products to Cuban officials at the José Martí International Airport in Havana.

This donation is in addition to others received on the Island in previous months sponsored by American associations and foundations and by Cubans residing in the United States. continue reading

Last June, Lazo was also in charge of a shipment that contained medical supplies to perform liver transplants on eight Cuban children.

Last year, Cuba received 135 donations from 40 countries, mostly supplies and medical equipment for immunization and the fight against the pandemic, according to official data.

The Island is going through a serious crisis due to the tightening of the U.S. economic embargo and errors in national macroeconomic management.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Castro Military Counterintelligence: An Example of Cuba’s Internal Embargo/Blockade

The state apparatus of control and repression is among Cuba’s largest employers.

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, November 6, 2022 — Cuban communists blame the embargo/blockade for all the ills that occur in Cuba, but they know that argument is not true. On the contrary, there is an internal blockade by the regime on the Cuban people that prevents them from reaching the levels of prosperity and well-being they want. A much more harmful and lethal internal blockade. There are many examples of this historical attrition. Interestingly, the information is offered by Granma, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, in the article entitled “The history of Military Counterintelligence is the history of the Revolution.”

Here we have a magnificent example of that internal blockade that grips the lives of Cubans: military counterintelligence, which has just turned 60 years old. It’s not surprising that Raúl Castro, through an emotional letter, has abandoned his golden retirement to preside over what Granma calls “the political act and military ceremony on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of Military Counterintelligence, constituted on November 7, 1962, and whose history is, for many reasons, the history of the Revolution itself.”

Well, yes. The history of the revolution, the model of social, economic and political organization that has made Cuba in six decades one of the poorest countries in the world. And why is this counterintelligence an example of the internal blockade? For many reasons. Let’s start with the economic, organizational, functional cost of the thousands of chiefs, officers, non-commissioned officers, cadets, sergeants, soldiers and civil counterintelligence workers.

Thousands of people are engaged in unproductive and inefficient tasks, which respond only to the regime’s objectives of surveillance, control and repression. Unfortunately there are no data to back up this statement, but employment in the branch of public administration, defense and social security, including the state apparatus, reached a total of 31,500 people in 2021, 7% of the total, more than in construction and almost the same figure as in the manufacturing industry. In addition, since 2017, it registered a growth of 6% while total employment decreased by -0.8%. continue reading

What seems obvious is that these people occupied in the tasks of counterintelligence don’t produce food or manufacture products; their work is only reflected in being an instrument of the internal blockade, which is to report information to eliminate from the root any social initiative contrary to the objectives of the so-called “revolution.”

Raúl Castro’s letter confirmed the personal interest of the country’s ruling circle in the members of this body to continue to preserve, “with the professionalism and honesty that characterizes them, the security of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the work of the Revolution.” Let’s say that if that supposed professionalism and honesty were dedicated to more productive and necessary things for the well-being of ordinary Cubans, this argument could be justified, but giving security to the revolution is now getting old, and the effort dedicated to this task is so enormous, that much of the country’s energy is lost in this activity, which counterintelligence performs masterfully.

And apparently not only Raúl Castro wants this organization to continue working and blocking the Cuban people. The speech of some leader of the new generations of officers recognized that, even though much work has been done, the challenges ahead are even greater. And he added, “for revolutionaries there is no rest; we have to be united and work to continue consolidating the gains achieved”: a message that reinforces that unproductive character of counterintelligence, based more on the confidence that the direction of the revolution places in it than on the use of the work of those thousands of people in pursuit of the social good of all Cubans.

The 60 years of existence of this organization have depended on alleged attack plans of the internal and external enemy. Beliefs that, based on being repeated over and over again, end up becoming dogma; in reality, those attacks have never occurred. What usually happens is that the regime, to block the people, identifies a legitimate social protest, such as 11J, as an attack on national sovereignty, and imprisons thousands of people, with long sentences for exercising a widely recognized right in all countries of the world. That is, internally blockading the population.

Are there privileges to be part of this organization? In a general sense, possibly, but it doesn’t seem that employees who engage in these activities have, except in very few cases, better living conditions than average. They have lived with a non-existent creed for 60 years and curiously prepare for an uncertain future, in which, once the nation chooses the path to freedom and democracy, the internal blockade exercised by counterintelligence will disappear forever.

It will disappear as in the famous film, “The Lives of Others,” in which the protagonist, a spy with East German counterintelligence, is faced with a new reality alien to the one he had lived in the period of dictatorship. Most likely, democracy in Cuba will make the entire history of counterintelligence disappear, the history of its “founders, heroes and martyrs,” because unlike what Granma says, we will not inherit anything from them, except a lot of suffering, repression, destroyed lives and internal blockade, and this, of course, at incomprehensible costs for any state.

And as it doesn’t appear that this will happen, the communist regime that governs the destinies of Cubans, the same one that created counterintelligence 60 years ago, will not assume the historical responsibility of transforming the organization so that it really serves the interests of the people and ceases to be an internal blockade. They won’t. Not even with that critical reflection or analysis of what Granma says they do. Many of these actions help to understand the internal blockade that Cuban communists deny, although it exists and is especially serious, above all at this time when the people begin to wake up and realize what is being lost.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Raul Castro Reappears in a Tribute to Cuban Military Counterintelligence

Raúl Castro awarded accolades during the political act and military ceremony. (Granma)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 6 November 2022 — Former Cuban president Raúl Castro, retired from political life in 2021, congratulated the members of Military Counterintelligence on Saturday in an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the group’s founding.

The Government of Cuba reported that the message of the former president was read during the military act for the creation of the organ of the Revolutionary Armed Forces on November 7, 1962.

Raúl Castro, who attended the ceremony, “expressed his certainty that the members of this prestigious body will continue to preserve, with the professionalism and honesty that characterizes them, the security of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the work of the revolution,” according to the press release.

Castro, 91, witnessed the act dressed in the olive green uniform of an army general and was recognized as one of the founders of military counterintelligence. continue reading

Castro came to power on an interim basis in 2006 due to the illness of his brother Fidel, and officially assumed the presidency in 2008.

In April 2021, he transferred the position of first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (the only legal party) during the VIII Congress of the Party to the current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Three years earlier he left the Government of the Island in the hands of Díaz-Canel to guarantee the continuity of the socialist system of single party and centralized economy.

Since he retired from power, his public appearances have been reduced to the meetings of the PCC, the National Assembly (unicameral parliament) and other specific events.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Justicia 11J Documented the Arrests of 162 Protesters in Cuba Last Quarter

For several nights, hundreds of Cubans went out to protest — with cacerolazos (banging on pots and pans) — the blackouts that followed Hurricane Ian. (Capture)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 November 2022 — Cuban NGO, Justicia 11J shared on Friday that it has documented a total of 162 arrests of protesters who participated in “at least 202 public protests” in Cuba between August and October.

In a report published on social media, the association shared that of the more than 160 people arrested, five are younger than 18 years of age — the minimum criminal age in the country is 16 years — and 78 remain under arrest.

According to the registry developed by the NGO, the total number of detentions since June increased to 188.

The protests, according to the report, occurred in 14 of the 15 provinces across the Island, with Havana being the region with most protests (55), followed by the western province of Matanzas (19).

According to the report, September 30th and October 1st represented 26.4% of the protest days. In just those two days, there were 41 protests, according to the NGO. continue reading

Those were the days after Hurricane Ian made landfall on the easternmost part of the island, which left a good part of the country without electricity and water for almost a week.

As to the use of violence against protesters, Justicia 11J has documented cases in Nuevitas (Camagüey province), where protests occurred over several consecutive nights in August, and in Havana following Hurricane Ian.

“At least four people were brutally beaten (in Havana). The mother of one of those stated that five days after the protest, she had not yet been allowed to see him, even after she was informed that her son was receiving medical care from a maxilofacial surgeon,” states the organization.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Escape of Two Boxers Puts the Cuban Team on the Ropes in the World Cup

Cuban boxers Albert González and Carlos Castillo had been training since September 24 in Berlin, Germany. (Collage)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 4 November 2022 — The defections continue to knock out, in the international championships, the Cuban boxing team Domadores. This Wednesday, the boxers Albert González and Carlos Castillo left the team in Germany, where Cuba had won its first three bronze medals at the Boxing World Cup, held this year in Cologne.

The athletes didn’t even show up for the scheduled fights, so the national commissioner, Alberto Puig, accused them of having “missed their commitment.”

The escape of González and Castillo, two elite fighters and valuable members of the Domadores, marks a critical moment for a selection that has not yet been replaced by the recent abandonment of Osvel Caballero, who escaped in Mexico after triumphing over his opponent, the Mexican Gerson “Tigre” Escobar.

The boxers, both from Havana, were in training since October 24 in Berlin, along with seven other boxers led by the two-time Olympic champion Roniel Iglesias, the three-time world king Lázaro Álvarez and the world champion in the 75-kilogram category, Yoenlis Hernández. The Domadares group is completed with Alejandro Claro, Sadiel Horta, Rafael Joubert and Freddy Pérez. continue reading

Castillo arrived in Berlin after beating Kazakh fighter Amanat Sabyrgali in the Boxing World Cup, and after receiving his champion credential in the superweights for defeating Cuban Yoel Duvergel in the Playa Girón National Tournament. After his victory, he declared to the media Jit that he had “rewarded” his mother’s many-year sacrifice and announced that that was “his moment.”

For his part, González, who was supposed to debut against the German Ben Ehis, is experiencing an uphill career that led him to be considered by coaches Robinson Poll, Víctor Sánchez and Julio Lázaro Mena, who integrated him into the delegation to face several European opponents at the end of the year.

The two boxers are expected to look for ways to get into professional boxing from Europe or to get to the United States, where their future could be promising, as published by Swing Completo.

The bleeding of Cuban athletes is a constant. This Wednesday, the escape of players Yordy Magdariaga and Juan Raúl Cruz, from the Under-18 national team, was confirmed, according to journalist Francys Romero.

“Cuban baseball players continue to trust that there is more future outside their country than inside. Both Magdariaga and Cruz will begin a stage now of perfecting their tools and, in addition, presenting themselves to talent evaluators,” said the reporter to the media Baseball FR!

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Frightened by Working Conditions, Dozens of Cubans Give Up Medical Studies

There are very few students interested in the specialty of General Surgery, and those who study it are demotivated by the lack of practice. (Facebook/Hospital Antonio Luaces Iraola)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 5 November 2022 — The stampede of 146 graduate students puts emergency medical care in Ciego de Ávila in crisis. A report published this Saturday by the official newspaper Invasor plucks up courage to find explanations. It attributes the figure to the demotivation of young people and takes a long detour to never mention the most obvious cause of the deficit: emigration.

Of the total number of dropouts that the University of Medical Sciences (UCM) registers “in pencil,” 71 have definitively renounced the specialty (26 comprehensive general practitioners, 7 dentists, 1 nurse and 37 specialists in secondary care), while 75 point out that their refusal to continue their studies is “temporary.”

The deficit translates into poor medical care in the province, and to top it off, morbidity rates have increased. Most to blame, in the opinion of health managers in Ciego de Ávila, is the covid-19 pandemic, which closed the operating rooms to operations that weren’t urgent and therefore eliminated the possibility that young residents could train.

“No surgeon is trained by watching,” Dr. Alberto Bermúdez, head of the surgery classroom service at Antonio Luaces hospital, with more than 30 years of experience, laments in the official press.

According to Bermúdez, there are very few students interested in the specialty of General Surgery, and those who do study it are demotivated by the lack of practice. In addition, students “without aptitude” often opt for this specialty. continue reading

“If in six months of specialty, the resident has only been able to do a suture in the emergency room, he is disillusioned; he already did that in the fourth year of his career,” the doctor complains. Of the twenty students he supervised in other years, in 2021 there were only four, of which only one aspires to become a surgeon.

However, the report prefers to point out the usual suspects: the financial situation of the country and the “blockade” of the United States, responsible for a “long list of patients awaiting operations” and, therefore, the “highs and lows of the teaching cycle.”

For her part, the academic vice-rector of the UCM, Mirta Elena Rodríguez, washes her hands: the faculty insist on graduating residents only when they have scrupulously completed the curriculum of the specialty, even if that means delaying the period of studies.

This also means that many teachers must offer their classes and then go to the operating room almost immediately. The pressure of this double routine is also felt by residents such as Rosabel Fiallo, who is taking General Surgery.

“The workload always falls on us, because we’re trained under the principle of ’learning by doing’. After working in emergency, I went straight to the operating room because I had to follow up on cases and take advantage of the time to learn,” says the young woman.

At no time does Invaser mention the fact that many professionals leave the country, in the unprecedented exodus that the Island is experiencing. The renunciation of medical studies is not exclusive to the specialties, but is even more frequent in the undergraduate stage.

The few prospects of practicing the profession with a minimum of necessary conditions scare away future doctors as well as residents.

Kirenia, a young woman who deserted her path to leaving the country, confessed to 14ymedio that she couldn’t see herself “working more than twelve hours a day in a hospital where there are no medicines, the toilets are so dirty that many doctors spend their entire working day without even urinating and earning a little more than 4,000 pesos that don’t go very far.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Cuban Regime Takes the ‘Doberman’ of the Embargo for a Walk at the United Nations

Image of the 2021 vote in the UN General Assembly against the US embargo on Cuba. (UN)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Valencia, 3 November 2022 — There is no doubt about it. The Cuban communist regime has taken the fierce U.S. embargo/blockade for a walk in the United Nations, which it keeps for the appropriate occasions. As of now, it achieves international attention in this forum of nations. And, if there is something that continues to provoke rejection and fatigue towards the castrista outcry against the blockade, it’s the way they have to try to convince the world, and to a large extent themselves, of what is that blockade that only exists in the feverish minds of a few.

To begin with, as we have pointed out in this blog on numerous occasions, there is no blockade as such, since Cuba trades, invests, receives tourists and subsidies from 192 countries of the world completely freely. And let’s use correct language. The dictionary of the Academy of the Spanish Language says that a blockade is “a maritime force that blocks.” Has anyone seen any US ship closing Cuba’s traffic since those days of Soviet nuclear missiles? No. Obviously, there is no blockade. What there is is a dispute, and it would be better to use this term.

For example, Castroism says that “the blockade is a system, based on hatred and punitive measures against human beings.” However, for many it isn’t, and it represents a legitimate option of economic rights that, at the time, were trampled upon by the same political regime that governs the destinies of Cubans. No one was worried then about the billions of dollars of property that was seized by Fidel Castro’s communist regime and, worse, the joke of committing to payments that never arrived.

Nobody remembers that episode, but there were tens of thousands of people who lost all their assets, and were not only dispossessed. They were repressed and imprisoned by the regime that had confiscated their property. Between 1959 and 1968, more than 90% of the assets of foreigners and Cubans passed into the hands of the State. No one has ever given the slightest proof of complying objectively and correctly with the compensations. The permanence of the dispute between the United States and Cuba is a firm commitment of the former to the rights of its citizens. It is not an act of hatred, precisely. The punishment applies to those who fail continue reading

to comply. Then, with the passage of time, the dispute acquired other nuances until it reached the present time, 63 years later.

From this perspective, if the international community makes claims for the dispute to disappear, it’s because it ignores the background, or simply, it  has taken the side of the Cuban communists. The dispute is not a “crime against a neighboring nation, noble, solidarity, respectful, that has never attacked or will attack the US.” On the contrary, it is a defense of the interests of its citizens, who were aggrieved by that neighboring nation, and a firm commitment to freedom and democracy.

At the same time, Cuban communists stretch the rope of the blockade to the limit.

For example, they usually say that “the blockade causes Cuban children who suffer from the lack of a drug, the implantation of an organ, or the use of a reagent, for the ridiculous reason of having only 10% of American components.” Or when they say that “Cuba can’t buy food or has to look for it in distant markets, or simply do without because the banks where we must pay don’t accept Cuban financial transactions.”

False. It allows, precisely, the purchase of food of all kinds and medicines and medical equipment in the United States. The data support it. Purchases of these products exceed 200 million dollars a year. The only condition is that Cuba pay in cash. The truth is that with Cuba’s data on debt defaults, that requirement not only seems reasonable, but should be extended to all countries that trade with the Island. The United States does well to protect its exporters.

And of course, there are lies and more lies to distort reality. It’s not true that because of the blockade “the use of the US currency has had to be suspended because no necessary resource is allowed to be acquired with it, whatever it may be.” The dollar is used in Cuba today more than ever, and there is a stable demand that keeps the price high in informal markets, reflecting the deep imbalances of the economy.

Cubans demand dollars and will continue to do so, above the existing supply, because they are a safe haven, a trustworthy currency, and they increase purchasing power and facilitate access to all kinds of goods and services. The necessary traceability of those dollars is something very different, and here once again, if the regime doesn’t get Cuban dollars accepted in foreign banks, it is because the origin of them is unknown, and international payment standards must be complied with, which, for example, Fidel Castro despised. Taking Cuba off the list of terrorist countries can, in this case, even be reckless.

If relations between the United States and Cuba continue to be assessed through the framework of the dispute, there is only one party responsible: the Cuban communist regime. In the text it is very clear what has to be done and how to leave behind this situation that, on the other hand, has always existed and only becomes a threat in those moments when Cuba ceases to have some external partner willing to subsidize its economic and political adventures. In that sense, between 1959 and 1993 there was no talk of any embargo. Reason? The generous Soviet subsidies. Later, with the economic emergencies of the Special Period, the argument of the embargo arose, but when Chávez’s oil arrived, the tension calmed down again.  Until now, when Castroism is in the terminal phase and doesn’t know what to do.

It’s even possible that the dispute is in its final hours. However, there are those who think that it’s now more justified than ever. At the United Nations, Cuba wins every year in votes on this issue. David’s false fight against Goliath always has supporters. What there is no doubt about is that the sacrifice of the United States for giving continuity to a policy that began as a defense of the interests of its citizens and ended up being a wise strategy for the democratic, economic and social transformation of Cuba, will be rewarded when Cuba joins the set of democratic countries of the world. And that will be soon. And then, the dispute will be over.

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published on the Cubaeconomy blog and is reproduced with the author’s permission.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

An Officially-Appointed Comedian Livens Up a Havana Fair with Not Much for Sale

Surrounding the crowd, many soldiers guarded the entrance to the square. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 5 November 2022 — Microphone in hand, comedian Kike Quiñones tried to drag a smile out of the hundreds who gathered in Plaza de Carlos III in Central Havana on Saturday. A fair had started earlier in the day, at which the star attraction was two pieces of fried chicken in an aluminium container for every attendee. But the comic’s jokes didn’t manage to alter the long faces of those who had waited hours to purchase this product.

“I can sell you the right to buy the container because I’ve already waited twice and now I’m only interested in buying the chicken”, a woman explained to a boy, who, after counting the money he had in his wallet, checked if it was enough to pay the 170 pesos for the container and the 40 pesos more that made up the amount for the chicken. “There’s Lada and Moskvitch spares on sale too, but I don’t have a car so I’m not even interested in those either”, said an elderly man who’d been waiting “since before nine o’clock”.

Surrounding the crowd, many soldiers guarded the entrance to the square. “I want to see just what it is you’re filming there, Sir”, quipped Quiñones when a young boy pulled out his phone to record the show. The gag only continue reading

drew a guffaw from one of the soldiers but didn’t at all amuse those who were lining up and who knew very well what kind of problems can result from pointing a camera at the Police and the Special Forces. “They’re laughing now, but for less than that they’ll slap a fine on you or pile you into a truck and cart you off to the station”, said an adolescent who was also waiting for the container and the chicken.

A while later, the line was still growing and the comic’s jokes had come to an end. All you could hear were the grumbles and shouts of those who, fearing they wouldn’t get what they’d waited for, called out for more food to be put out for sale, and at a lower price. Before 12pm the fair was already flagging and still with hardly any food available.

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORKThe 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.