14ymedio – Page 197 – Translating Cuba

Cuban Government’s Triumphant Data on Tourism Covers Up a Dire Reality

Compared to 2021, the number of travelers from the ’usual’ countries have grown, but again, if compared to 2019, it is understood that foreign exchange will continue to be scarce. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 June 2022 — As of the month of May, the Cuban government has obtained just over 261 million dollars from tourism, of the 1,159 million that it aspires to collect in this sector throughout the year, according to the triumphant estimate of disastrous data that it offered last Friday.

At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Economy and Planning stated that, if the forecasts were met and 2.5 million foreign travelers arrived on the island, some 1,159 million dollars would be contributed to the Cuban economy. The figure represents about 463.60 dollars per traveler, quite far from the average declared in 2019, when spending per tourist stood at 700 dollars.

On Friday, the National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei) released the tourism data for June, with the January-May range included. This data reports that as of that date more than half a million travelers had arrived on the Island. If they had spent the average of what the Government attributes to them, not even a quarter of the foreign exchange expected by the authorities would have been collected.

Onei’s message highlighted the strong rise in tourism compared to the same period of the previous year. “564,847 international visitors have been received as of the month of May, which represents 640.3%, that is, 476,637 visitors, more than in the same period of the previous year,” but once again, the Government is cheating by reporting data that could only be spectacular compared to the dates of the pandemic, when the borders were closed. continue reading

If compared to the year 2019, the bad data is visible. In that year, the last fully normal year in terms of the movement of people, 2,286,882 people traveled to the Island as of May. The drop is 75%. As for 2018, in the same period 2,159,967 arrived, which gives a drop of 73%.

“Recent tourism data in Cuba confirms today that the route taken by the authorities marks an upward march towards recovery plans for the recreation sector,” Prensa Latina published on Friday, which, in a display of optimism, estimated the figure is “one evidence of the recovery path of this economic sector.”

The Cuban government agency did not stop there and considered that the forecasts of reaching 2.5 million foreign tourists “seems to be going at a good pace.” However, there are approximately 2 million visitors left to reach the planned goal and the margin is slim. Cuba’s high season dow not begin until October and, especially November, while the months between April and September usually have the worst data.

Last May, during the celebration of FitCuba 2022, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero admitted that the recovery of the tourism sector should be postponed for a year, which contradicted the overly optimistic comments made a few days earlier by the minister of the branch, Juan Carlos García Granda.

The data is clear: in addition to the debacle that is observed when compared with dates under the same conditions, it is clearly noticeable how Russia, one of the countries that acted as a locomotive for Cuban tourism, due to how much tourism from that country grew, is erased from the map.

The sanctions that the US and Europe imposed on Moscow after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, on February 23, have blocked flights to the island from Russia, which had sent 75,977 travelers between January and June 2019, before collapsing to 37,333 for the first five months of 2022. But more serious than the total is the evolution, since in January 19,434 Russians arrived in Cuba and in February 16,437. But the number for March was 807, for April 321 and for May 334, which means the virtual disappearance of the only growing tourism in recent years.

The numbers of other travelers from frequent countries are growing compared to 2021, but again, if compared to 2019, it is understood that foreign exchange will continue to be scarce. Canada, the largest source of tourists to Cuba, sent 182,733 as of the end of May, while in the same period of 2019 the number was 682,458. Spain sent 20,963, compared to 50,401 three years ago, for just a couple comparisons.

In the words of the Cuban economist based in Spain, Elías Amor: “There is no gradual recovery of tourism, and the worst thing is that the private sector that depends on this activity cannot take it anymore.”

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Seven Minors Convicted for July 11th (11J) Protest in Cuba Will Not Serve Prison Sentences After a ‘Special Analysis’

The moment in which several young people turn over a patrol car on the corner of Toyo, Havana, on July 11, 2021. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Madrid, 21 June 2022 — The more than 30 individuals convicted for their participation in the July 11th (11J) demonstrations on the corner of Toyo in Havana, where an overturned police patrol became a symbol of the protests that day, have had their sentences reduced by the Supreme People’s Court (TSP) of Cuba after the appeal hearing, held in the Municipal Court of Diez de Octubre on May 27.

The sentence, signed this Monday and to which 14ymedio has had access, confirms what the Justice 11J platform advanced on the same day of the appeal trial , that “changes of measure” were expected for the youngest.

Thus, the sentence imposed on Rowland Jesús Castillo Castro, 17 years old at the time of his arrest and sentenced to 18 years in prison, becomes 5 years of “deprivation of liberty subsidized by the same term of correctional work with internmen,t” the same sentece imposed on Kevin Damián Frómeta Castro (19 years old and previously sentenced to 16 years in prison) and Kendry Miranda Cárdenas (age 17 and previously sentenced to 19 years).

Another young person, Lauren Martínez Ibáñez, 18, was also given the same reduction “for reasons of justice and equity,” despite not having filed an appeal. Justice 11J had warned that the boy’s family had no resources to file appeals.

“The sanctions of deprivation of liberty and that of correctional work with internment will be fulfilled by those sanctioned in the penitentiary establishment designated by the Ministry of the Interior,” the legal document details. continue reading

For their part, Brandon David Becerra Curbelo, 17 years old at the time of the events and sentenced to 13 years in prison, Rafael Jesús Núñez Echenique (sentenced to 12 years) and Giuseppe Belauzarán Guada (17 years old and sentenced to 10 years) have had their sentences changed to 5 years of correctional work without internment.

Brayan Piloto Pupo (16 years old and previously sentenced to 10 years) and Lázaro Noel Urgellés Fajardo (17 and sentenced to 14 years) obtained a change to 5 years of “limitation of freedom.”

The imprisonment of minors after the peaceful demonstrations of 11J has been denounced by organizations such as Prisoners Defenders and international institutions such as Unicef, but until now the Cuban courts had ignored it. Last May, the UN Committee against Torture described as “alarming” the “high number of arrests” in Cuba after the protests and referred to the imprisoned youth.

Although President Miguel Díaz-Canel had assured that there were no minors incarcerated in Cuban prisons and that the high convictions of 16- and 17-year-olds had been carried out with “high judicial rationality,” in Monday’s ruling, recorded by Judges Plácido Batista Veranes, Alina de Fátima Santana Echerri, Paula Joaquina Rodríguez Sánchez, Marta Elena de Armas Castillo and Lázaro Máximo León Pelegrín, it reads that the defendants “whose ages at the time of committing the acts ranged between 16 and 19 years of age deserve special analysis.”

And they justify: “Cuba has always had attention to the comprehensive development of youth among its priorities. It is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, which has forced it to draw up strategies that allow it to abide by its postulates. They have adopted various legal measures aimed at strengthening the rights and guarantees of committers of crimes in this age range, among which are judicial decisions, which must be a reflection of the state’s will.

The text also argues in favor of reducing the sentences of the only two women prosecuted for the events, Yunaiky de la Caridad Linares Rodríguez, 24 years old, previously sentenced to 14 in prison, and Daisy Rodríguez Alfonso, 38 sentenced to 16 in prison.

Both will serve an 8-year sentence for having “a less relevant participation in the crime” and being deserving of mitigating circumstances. The first, “of normal civic performance, known in her community for being linked to the work of social organizations that, before the appeal judges, asked for an opportunity, which speaks in favor of her chances of amendment,” the sentence states. “The second, ill with HIV-AIDS and cancerous conditions.”

Despite the reductions in sentences, which are given after dozens of complaints in international instances, the TSP categorically refused to disregard the crime of sedition for which they were all convicted (two of them, Giuseppe Belauzarán Guada and Lázaro Noel Urgellés Fajardo, were also accused of theft), as requested by the defense of the majority of those who appealed.

“The defendants, indistinctly, state that there was no disturbance of the constitutional order, that their motivations were not of that type, that they joined the crowd of people without knowing the real purposes they were pursuing, that there was no preconceived agreement to act in this way, and they deny the use of violence against the authority and the representatives of the State institutions,” states the sentence, which asserts that the regulation of the crime of sedition “is in correspondence with the declaration that appears in Article 4, third paragraph of the Constitution of the Republic,” that is to say: that the socialist system is irrevocable.

This is how the sentences of those accused of the acts at the Toyo corner remain after the appeal hearing:

1. Juan Emilio Pérez Estrada, 17 years in prison (previously sentenced to 21 years)
2. Alexis Borges Wilson, 17 years old (sentenced to 20 years)
3. Jorge Vallejo Venega, 15 years old (sentenced to 20 years)
4. Duannis Dabel León Taboada, 14 years old (sentenced to 19 years)
5. Dayan Gustavo Flores Brito, 14 years old (sentenced to 18 years)
6. Asley Nelson Cabrera Puentes, 14 years old (sentenced to 25 years)
7. Ronald García Sánchez, 14 years old (sentenced to 20 years)
8. Donger Soroa González, 14 years old (sentenced to 20 years)
9. Yoanky Báez Albornoz, 14 years old (sentenced to 23 years)
10. Adael Jesús Leyva Díaz, 13 years old (sentenced to 19 years)
11. Henry Fernández Pantera, 13 years old (sentenced to 21 years)
12. Francisco Eduardo Soler Castaneda, 13 years old (sentenced to 18 years)
13. Oriol Hernández Gálvez, 13 years old (sentenced to 15 years)
14. Óscar Bravo Cruzata, 13 years old (sentenced to 18 years)
15. Ricardo Duque Solís, 12 years old (sentenced to 18 years)
16. Luis Armando Cruz Aguilera, 10 years (sentenced to 15 years)
17. Yussuan Villalba Sierra, 10 years old (sentenced to 18 years)
18. Adrián Oljales Mora, 10 years old (sentenced to 14 years)
19. Edel Cabrera González, 10 years (sentenced to 15 years)
20. Alexander Ayllón Carvajal, 8 years old (sentenced to 20 years)
21. Yunaiky de la Caridad Linares Rodríguez, 8 years old (sentenced to 14 years)
22. Daisy Rodríguez Alfonso, 8 years old (sentenced to 16 years)
23. Rowland Jesús Castillo Castro, 5 years of correctional labor with internment (sentenced to 18 years)
24. Kevin Damián Frómeta Castro, 5 years of correctional work with internment (sentenced to 16 years)
25. Lauren Martínez Ibáñez, 5 years of correctional work with internment
26. Kendry Miranda Cárdenas, 5 years of correctional labor with internment (sentenced to 19 years)
27. Brandon David Becerra Curbelo, 5 years of correctional labor without internment (sentenced to 13 years)
28. Rafael Jesús Núñez Echenique, 5 years of correctional work without internment (sentenced to 12 years)
29. Lázaro Noel Urgellés Fajardo, 5 years of correctional work without internment (sentenced to 14 years)
30. Brayan Piloto Pupo, 5 years of limited freedom (sentenced to 10 years)
31. Giuseppe Belauzarán Guada, 5 years limitation of freedom (sentenced to 10 years)

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Cuban Rapper Denis Solis is Living in Extreme Poverty in Serbia

Solís during his stay in jail in Cuba. (Facebook)

The opposition rapper Denis Solís, a former prisoner of conscience recognized by the United Nations, and subsequently forced into exile, is in a situation of extreme poverty in Novi Sad, Serbia, where he has lived since he left Cuba at the end of 2021. The organization Prisoner Defenders has tweeted an alert about the situation and refers to a telephone to provide help to the activist, a member of the San Isidro Movement (MSI).

The artist “left [Cuba] with a cousin and the cousin’s daughter,” a relative confirmed to 14ymedio at the time of his departure, although little has been known about him since then, except that he has requested political asylum and, therefore, cannot work. The rapper has declared that he is having a hard time in Serbia and that he needs to resort to the help they give him in order to survive and pay the rent. “I have already reached the limit and I have no way to support myself,” he said in a brief message to Martí Noticias.

The arrest of Denis Solís in November 2020 and his subsequent conviction for contempt in a summary trial, opened the spigot of the MSI protests, led by the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. Its members then began a hunger strike at its headquarters in Havana, from which they were violently evicted by State Security agents disguised as health workers with the excuse of measures to contain the covid-19 pandemic.

The event triggered a protest by more than 300 artists who gathered before the Ministry of Culture to ask for dialogue with the authorities and gave rise to the 27N group, also the seed of Archipíelago, led by playwright Yunior García Aguilera. Both he, who now resides in Spain, and Otero Alcántara, currently in prison in Cuba, faced reprisals for defying the authorities.

Solís’ release occurred in July 2021, after serving eight months in prison. Shortly afterward, after being harassed by the Cuban authorities, he took a flight to Moscow headed for Serbia, a country that exempts Cubans from visas.

His departure was leaked by anonymous accounts at the service of the regime, which released images in which Solís was seen at the José Martí International Airport in Havana, carrying a suitcase and accompanied by relatives.

Luis Robles, known as the young man with the placard, has also suffered the consequences of defending Solís. On December 4, 2020, he took to the streets to demand, sign in hand, the release of the rapper on the San Rafael Boulevard in Havana.

The gesture has earned him a five-year prison sentence for “responding to a call” from the Cuban influencer “Alexander Otaola to speak out” against the arrest of Solís, “from the police authorities, the leaders of the State and the Government ” and “performing any act aimed at destabilizing internal order, publicly demonstrating in the streets against the Cuban economic and social system,” according to the text of his sentence.

Solís has said he feels a moral debt to Robles, who is currently being mistreated in prison, according to his relatives.

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Cuban Athletics Champion Juan Miguel Echevarria Leaves the National Team

Juan Miguel Echevarría during the athletics men’s long jump qualifying rounds at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (EFE /Juan Ignacio Roncoroni)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 18 June 2022 — The Cuban pole vault champions, Yarisley Silva, and long jump champions, Juan Miguel Echevarría, left the national teams of their respective disciplines, the Athletics Commission officially reported this Friday.

When presenting the 35th edition of the Barrientos Memorial this weekend, an event that traditionally brings together the most outstanding figures of Cuban athletics, the commissioner of the specialty, Yipsy Moreno, confirmed the absences of Silva and Echevarría.

Moreno said that the long jumper Echevarría will not compete in this event because “due to personal problems, he requested his withdrawal from the national team,” according to a report in the official sports newspaper Jit.

A silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Echevarría, 23, is considered the most successful Cuban long jumper in recent times.

After suffering several injuries, Echevarría’s trainers had indicated that he was preparing for future competitions.

Regarding pole vaulter Yarisley Silva, 35, the commissioner reported that she “determined to put an end to her sports career.” However, Silva’s abandonment had already been made known at the beginning of April by the independent press. continue reading

“The issue is not what could happen with regards to sports with Yarita in the future, but that her reasons for her departure include her dissatisfaction with the way in which the Federation has carried out many logistical and other movements related to her and Navas [her coach Alexander Navas ],” said SwingCompleto journalist Yasel Porto.

“That is another personal decision, it is a sad moment that all world champions have to go through and it tears us apart, we recognize her athlete lineage and for us she will continue to be our warrior,” Moreno justified this time.

Silve has had an outstanding sports career with a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics, as well as outdoor and indoor world titles. She was also three times Pan American champion.

In March, she decided not to participate in the world indoor athletics championships in Serbia, because her pole vaults had not arrived on time.

“Why did I decide not to compete? Because, even if they looked for poles that were as similar as possible, they weren’t going to be mine. It was the third time this had happened to me,” Silva told the state publication Cubadebate.

She also said then that her goal was to “finish big” and that is why she did not want to say goodbye to athletics “below” her results, so she said she planned to participate in the next Central American and Caribbean Games.

The retirement of these outstanding figures of Cuban sports adds to a series of abandonments registered in recent months, mainly by young people in disciplines such as baseball, karate, wrestling, athletics and canoeing.

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Once the Jewel of Cuban Department Stores, Fin de Siglo Has Become a Dump

To prevent curious onlookers from seeing the full magnitude of the historic building’s slow destruction, authorities have opted to hide it from public view.

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, June 20, 2022 — Surrounded by a metal fence and piles of rubble, work on Havana’s Fin de Siglo department store seems to be all about concealment rather than repair. To keep curious onlookers from witnessing the full magnitude of the historic building’s slow destruction, authorities have opted to hide it from public view.

“It’s been like this for years and now it’s become a dump,” laments a neighbor waiting in line on Saturday at a nearby pizzeria. “They came and put up these metal sheets one day. Af first we thought they were going to repair the building but that’s not at all the case. They’ve just let if fall apart, and with so many homeless families in this area.”

Fin de Siglo was no ordinary store. The famous emporium was opened in 1897 at the corner of San Rafael and Galiano streets in central Havana. Born of the efforts of four entrepreneurs from Galicia, it was considered the first of its kind in the Spanish-speaking world. A renovation in the mid-20th century added air conditioning throughout the building, wide escalators and large display windows at street level.

The facade of Fin de Siglo as seen from San Rafael Street. (14ymedio)

Those large expanses of glass and the stylized mannequins behind them are long gone. Area residents now dump bags of garbage into the space between the fence and the wall that once featured display windows. Parts of the concrete canopy are missing and the store’s cursive, vaguely calligraphic metal signage is barely distinguishable from the grimy, rusty walls.

With its sleek, modern facade and marble-clad ground floor, the building marked a milestone in design for the area. But neither the diligence of its architects nor the durability of its materials could ultimately save it once it was nationalized in 1960. From then on, merchandise began disappearing from its shelves. Goods were rationed and a new distribution system was imposed. Without investment, or new paint, the structure gradually deteriorated.

But Fin de Siglo’s greatest humiliation came during the crisis of the 1990s. During the Special Period it served as a retail outlet that catered to newlyweds, who could find goods there that were no longer available at other stores. Unlike in the 1980s, however, the merchandise was of low quality and questionable use. continue reading

Along Galiano Street, area residents now dump bags of garbage into the space between the metal fence and the wall that once featured display windows. (14ymedio)

“After we got married, my wife and I spent days waiting in line to get in and all we could find were plastic containers for gasoline and a funnel. But neither she nor I had a car,” says Ricardo. The retiree had been living for years with the woman who would become his wife when they decided to legalize their relationship. Being married would allow them to buy goods they could later resell on the black market. “What hit me when I went into Fin de Siglo was the darkness and dank smell, nothing at all like it was when I was a kid.”

Now Ricardo avoids even going near the metal fence. “The stench from inside the building combined with the garbage that isn’t picked up for weeks would depress anyone,” he explains. A hundred years ago, jewels shone inside its display cases, employees shuffled about, showing off new merchandise, and dozens of Galician eyes watched over the store, making sure it continued to make money and please its customers. But that was long ago. We are now in a different era and that store no longer exists.

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Protests Achieve a Change of Venue for the Pablo Milanes Concert in Havana

A crowd of people stood in front of the box office of the National Theater of Cuba, last Wednesday, in protest at the few tickets sold to the general public for the Pablo Milanés concert. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 17 June 2022 — The clamor of artists and admirers protesting the few tickets sold to the public for the Pablo Milanés concert, scheduled for Tuesday, June 21, has had an effect. The performance has been transferred from the National Theater of Cuba, where it was scheduled, to the Sports City Coliseum, the Cuban Institute of Music announced this Friday.

In a brief statement, the institution explains that the decision was made “with the aim of facilitating greater attendance at the concert” and details that “the institution’s authorities and Pablo Milanés’ team have taken into account the requests of those who have expressed interest in participating in the show.”

The tickets already sold, according to the Institute, “retain their validity,” and the new ones will be sold at the National Theater of Cuba, this Saturday, June 18, starting at 1:00 pm.

“In the conception and organization of the show, work has been done with seriousness and transparency,” the Institute concludes in its note. “The consideration that this is a concert for the people, who deserve to enjoy the work of a great artist, has prevailed.” The Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum has around 15,000 seats, compared to just over 2,000 at the National Theatre.

Last Wednesday, the sale of tickets for the event ended in a brawl when, just 50 minutes after opening the box office, people were told that there were no seats left.

The explanation given by the director of the theater, Nereyda López Labrada, is that only tickets for “stalls and the first balcony” had been sold to the public, and that the rest had been given to “organizations,” that is, to official groups. continue reading

The news was immediately criticized not only by those who hoped to get tickets to see the singer-songwriter, who is 79-years-old and has health problems, but by Cuban artists of all kinds, both inside and outside the island.

The TV and radio announcer Yunior Morales addressed the musician himself in a broadcast via Facebook, to suggest that if the concert “cannot be outdoors” for “all the Cuban people,” not just for a few people “from the Government,” he should cancel it.

In a post published on his networks, Carlos Varela suggested a more forceful opinion through a fragment of the Milanés song I will tread the streets again, originally composed in homage to the Chilean government of Salvador Allende defeated by Augusto Pinochet’s coup, in 1973: “The books, the songs, burned by the murderous hands, will return, my people will be reborn from their ruin and the traitors will pay for their wrongdoing.”

At a Carlos Varela concert, and also at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum in Havana, on May 29, at several times, attendees chanted the word “freedom.” At the end of his performance, the singer-songwriter shouted “Viva Cuba libre” and thanked the organizers – with Eme Alfonso at the head – of the event, whom he praised for “having the ovaries” to invite him to sing in Cuba .

The Cuban filmmaker living in Barcelona, Carlos Díaz Lechuga, affectionately added: “Dear Pablo! After a tough year, going through personal problems, illnesses, today I want to tell you that I admire you more and more. Cuba is yours. You are one of the Cubans. Nothing and no one can stand against that, however much they want to. There are no games with you. You are tough. If you sing chapó… if you don’t sing chapó.” And he concluded: “This rabble they have formed will not stain your soul, which is clean.”

Pablo Milanés, who has lived in Spain for some time, was one of the artists who used to be supporters of the Revolution who spoke forcefully after the repression of the demonstrations on July 11 last year. “I believe in young people, who with the help of all Cubans, must be and will be the engine of change,” said the famous singer-songwriter on his social networks, describing the government’s use of repression as “irresponsible and absurd.” The Cuban government against the people, “who have sacrificed themselves and given everything for decades to support a regime that in the end, what it does, is imprison them.”

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Most of the Tickets for the Pablo Milanes Concert in Havana are Sold to ‘Organizations’

The box office had only been open for 50 minutes and many of those waiting had been in line since the night before. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 15 June 2022 — The sale of tickets for the Pablo Milanés concert, on June 21 at the National Theater of Cuba, in Havana, turned this Wednesday into a line with an altercation, like so many of those that occur in the capital to buy chicken or oil.

Dozens of people protested at the box office when they received the news that there were no seats left. The box office had only been open for 50 minutes and many of those waiting had been in line since the night before.

The explanation given by the director of the theater, Nereyda López Labrada, is that of the 2,056 seats on the premises, only “stalls and first balcony” seats had been sold to the public, and that the rest had been given to “organizations.”

“The theater at the moment is responsible for the programming because the others have problems,” the official explained to the angry crowd, alluding to the fact that the venue was the only one in the capital that offered shows. Others, like the Karl Marx Theater or the Martí Theater, damaged by the explosion of the nearby Saratoga Hotel on May 6, need repairs.

“We had never been given a case like this,” explained López Labrada, who had previously held the position of general secretary of the National Union of Cultural Workers. continue reading

“We knew that this Pablo concert was going to bring about this situation, because it is the only concert that Pablo is going to give, first, because he has health problems,” the woman continued to explain, who was not allowed to finish: “A set of tickets was offered for sale to the public and the other amount was given to organizations.” At that moment, the official’s voice was drowned out by the cries of the people who asked what those “organizations” were.

One man reasoned: “I think there is an entire people wanting to hear him,” and he asked the “organizations” for understanding.

Another woman was less even-tempered, and thought that it was “lack of respect” that he would give a concert mostly to official institutions: “We have grown up with him and he deserves the voice of his people, he has just lost a daughter.”

Between the protests, the director of the theater defended herself, without success: “I also want to tell you that this mass of institutional people are also workers.” The screams rose again above her words.

“I support giving tickets to institutions because we are all workers and we are all Cubans and the institutions can have their capacities reserved but they have to be sold to the public and there must be transparency in the figures,” demanded a young man who spent hours in front of the National Theater box office.

“Many of us are also workers and we leave work to come and buy a ticket. These institutions [referring to the National Theater of Cuba] are public and we all pay for them, no one else maintains them, the people pay for it because it is public money,” the young man added.

Two elderly women in their 80s, who assure that they have never missed a concert by the Cuban artist, were upset. “Pablo Milanés is going to sing. There are difficulties with the tickets that I don’t know what they are,” said one of them, who ended by saying: “I’m waiting to be able to tell Mr. Pablo Milanés: Pablo, I love you.”

Of the 2,056 seats in the enclosure, only “stalls and the first balcony” had been sold to the public. (14ymedio)

The concert is scheduled for next Tuesday at 8:30 pm and tickets cost 40 pesos

Pablo Milanés, who has lived in Spain for some time, was one of the artists who used to be a supporter of the Revolution who spoke forcefully after the repression of the demonstrations on July 11 last year. “I believe in young people, who with the help of all Cubans, must be and will be the engine of change,” said the famous singer-songwriter on his social networks, who described as “irresponsible and absurd” the Cuban government’s use of repression Cuban against the people, “who have sacrificed themselves and given everything for decades to support a regime that in the end what it does is imprison them.”

On May 29, singer-songwriter Carlos Varela offered a performance at the Havana World Music Festival, at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum in Havana, where, at several times, attendees chanted the word “freedom.” Specifically, when he finished singing Family Photo and when he was performing Fools’ Fair. At the end of his performance, the singer-songwriter shouted “Long live free Cuba” and thanked the organizers – with Eme Alfonso at the head – of the event, whom he praised for “having the ovaries” to invite him to sing in Cuba.

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‘A Part of Me Died in the Darien Jungle’ says Dr. Figueredo on His Crossing to the United States

Doctors Alexander Pupo (far right) and Alexander Jesús Figueredo (far left) on their passage through Colombia. (Facebook/Alexander Jesús Figueredo Izaguirre)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 June 2022 — Dr. Alexander Jesús Figueredo Izaguirre, who lost his job due to his stance against the Cuban government and after being systematically harassed left the island, shared part of his journey to the United States on his social networks.

“A part of me died in the Darién jungle seeing lost children, drowned and dead people and unable to do anything but just look and continue,” published the Cuban health worker who along with his colleague Alexander Pupo Casas left Cuba and took the route from Guyana. “To think that the next one could be me, my physical and human strength was at the limit.”

According to official figures from the National Migration Service as of April of this year, 11,487 irregular migrants had crossed the Darién jungle, of which 15 were Venezuelans, 6,803 Haitians and 1,885 Cubans.

Figueredo says that “even my hair hurt,” and he faced temperatures below 32F and of more than 100F. He walked sections of more than 60 miles, “sleeping on the ground, in a church, crossing trails, rivers, seas and jungles.” continue reading

Cuban health workers Alexander Pupo and Alexander Jesús Figueredo in Capurganá (Colombia). (Facebook/Alexander Jesús Figueredo Izaguirre)

“The adversities I have had to overcome,” he says, have made him “stronger physically and ideologically.” In his message he points out that “God doesn’t give anyone more than they can bear. I let Him carry the weight, from the permanent harassment in Cuba to my profession and my family.”

The Cuban doctor hopes that as a reward he will have “strength and life to fight for a free Cuba and embrace my family again.”

On his Facebook page he also shared other images together with Dr. Pupo of the route they took to reach the United States and why they had to go through Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador. And one more, Capurganá, a village in the municipality of Acandí, belonging to Chocó (Colombia), an obligatory point before going into the Darién jungle.

“We are right now at the border between Peru and Ecuador,” he narrates in another video published on the same social network by Dr. Alexander Pupo, which records part of the journey before arriving in Colombia. “We are passing through; we had to come here because we are going to get on a bus that will take us out of this area.” And Figueredo says: “Homeland and life in Peru and Ecuador.”

Last May Dr. Pupo published an image at the foot of the InterCaribbean Airways plane with the text “Goodbye, my beautiful Cuba.” The doctor pointed out in a video his pain for leaving the island, “but I hope that one day I’ll be able to return when I’m free to fight for a free Cuba.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Two Cuban Players who Escaped in Mexico are Arrested and will be Returned to the Island

The players Yosvani Ávalos and Alfredo Fadraga were arrested by the Mexican authorities. (Collage)

14ymedio, Havana, 17 June 2022 — The players Alfredo Fadraga and Yosvani Ávalos, who 24 hours earlier had abandoned the Cuban team that plays in Mexico in the Pan American Under-23, were “arrested by the authorities” of the state of Aguascalientes and returned to their hotel. According to journalist Francys Romero, they have already been “transferred to an airport in Mexico to be returned” to the Island.

“They will have to face a terrible reality upon returning to Cuba,” he warned. “This is a fundamental decision that both not try to leave again until the team finishes the competition on June 19.”

Sources revealed to the journalist that Fadraga and Ávalos “did not return of their own free will.” The information, says the informant, was shared with him around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night. A whistleblower disclosed their location, and they were arrested.

“They were in the house of a relative,” according to Romero, who has the most reliable version. “Someone called the police and they were arrested,” he said in a video uploaded to his social networks.

After the alleged return was reported, “this type of news seemed more fiction than reality,” Romero said. For José Alejandro Rodríguez Zas, a reporter for SwingCompleto, several questions arose: “They returned of their own free will? Any regret? What about the authorities?” continue reading

The Cuban Baseball Federation, which confirmed the escape of the players by “incurring reprehensible acts,” has not offered a position on the return of Fadraga and Ávalos to the Ramada hotel where the team is staying.

The abandonment of these athletes was confirmed in the early hours of Thursday. Rodríguez Zas reported that the escape occurred by taking advantage of the rest day of the national team, although he couldn’t give more details “at the express request of sources.”

This Friday, Francys Romero revealed that the athletes “jumped over the hotel fence,” unfortunately were arrested, and “it ended badly for them.” He also recalled that the members of the team don’t have access to their documents.

“If they return to Cuba,” the journalist said, “they will surely face sanctions for years or for life. There are people who believe that they could face criminal charges; I’m not really sure about this.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Modified on Appeal, Abel Lescay’s Sentence for Cuba’s July 11th Protests Reduced to Five Years ‘Limitation of Liberty’

The musician Abel González Lescay, one of those prosecuted for 11J. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 16 June 2022 — The artist Abel Lescay was ultimately sentenced to five years of “limitation of freedom” for his participation in the protests of July 11, 2021, as reported by the young man on his social networks after learning this Wednesday of the decision of the court of San José de Las Lajas (Mayabeque).

“My sentence is out. Five years of limited freedom. It’s at home, working or studying,” he confirmed on his Facebook profile. “I congratulate myself. Thank you all very much for his great help,” he added.

Sentenced in the first instance to six years in prison for offending a police officer during the 11J protests, Lescay has had his sentence modified after the appeal hearing was held on June 1.

The pro-government singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez had supported Lescay from his blog, where he asked for transparency in the process and for the sentence to be rectified, although he questioned the existence of such amending capacity in the government elite, which he described as a “sect.”

At the appeal hearing, Isel María Lescay Oliva, the young man’s mother, said that she was able to intervene in that last trial, something unusual in this type of process in Cuba. Lescay then acknowledged having ’exceeded himself’ and argued that his seven-day detention had been sufficient punishment. “He said that he had already suffered all the crudeness implied in that,” said the mother.

A few days later, it became known that the artist was expelled from the Higher Institute of Art (ISA), where he was studying musical composition. Lescay was in the second year and failed several subjects, according to his own words. In the expulsion act it is indicated that article 58 has been applied, which provides for those who “fail more than two subjects in the year enrolled” not to be allowed to repeat it.

The musician is now focused on his new album, which he intends to finance through crowdfunding. “Now it’s my turn to play. I’m going to have a great album. Throw me the rope there, please,” he asked a week ago. continue reading

After hearing his first sentence, Abel Lescay said he had received the support of his colleagues at ISA at all times and that when he joined this course he went to talk to the rector, who referred to him as “a talented student” and gave him help with counseling to recover from the impact of the days he spent in jail.

However, he did reply to the officials of the institution who attacked a collective letter from artists who defended their freedom and described it as a “campaign that seeks to discredit the Revolution.”

A few days before the first trial was held last January, Lescay spoke with 14ymedio and recalled everything he suffered when they arrested him, one day after the protests, taking him out of his house naked, and remaining for six days under torture and threats of death.

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A Fire After a Blackout Destroys Six Homes in Cuba

The fire affected 16 people, according to local authorities. (David Blanchette)

14ymedio, Havana, 16 June 2022 — Six houses were damaged and some 16 people were affected as the result of a fire early this Wednesday in Banes, Holguín. According to local authorities, the incident was of “medium proportions,” as it did not claim any lives and the Fire Department managed to put it out.

In addition to the houses, located on General Marrero street – five destroyed and one more with partial damage – a cafe and a barbershop were also affected, according to the deputy delegate in the provincial delegation of hydraulic resources of Holguín, Juan Mario Hechavarría Hernández, in a Facebook post. Other users of social networks pointed out that the fire started in the Baní Indo-Cuban museum.

The fire started around midnight and was put out two hours later, but its cause is unknown at this time. The @TwitterHolguin account posted a video of the fire and noted that the fire started after the power returned after a blackout.

Hechevarría Hernández advanced that it was “presumably” a short circuit. The authorities plan to carry out an inspection this Wednesday to determine the origin of the incident. continue reading

On May 22 there was also a fire in a warehouse of the Tobacco Collection and Processing Company of Pinar del Río, a western province of Cuba, where some 30 tons of tobacco leaves were burned. In that same province, in February of this same year, the structure where the dry leaves of the crop are stored for processing burned down.

In April, a large forest fire also occurred in the municipality of Minas de Matahambre, in the province of Pinar del Río, which burned more than 200 hectares of pine. In March, another incident caused damage to three of the four apartments in the building located at 308 L Street, between 23rd and 25th, in front of the Habana Libre hotel, in El Vedado, Havana.

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Fifteen Years of a ‘Little Grey War’

Desiderio Navarro left a solid and useful work, but he died alone, embittered. (Granma)

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 19 June 2022 — When I met Desiderio Navarro he was already an old man worn out by cancer. He used crutches and had little muscle left, little desire to speak. I did not know—he did—that the entire “universe” of Criterios*, the magazines, books, and translations, was about to disappear, to the relief of bureaucrats, private enemies, and public antagonists.

Desiderio withered quickly. He left a solid and useful work, but he died alone, bitter, like the proverbial dog. Now he exists as a signature at the end of a prologue or in the credit of a translation, and we will gradually push him into oblivion, because the memory of the Cuban works at irregular intervals and does not distinguish between learning and trauma.

We also forget the hornet’s nest that, fifteen years ago, caused the television appearance of three former cultural commissioners in a context that could not have been more slippery: Fidel Castro’s illness after his collapse in Santa Clara, like a broken statue, and country’s the turn of the gears.

Demanding favors that reward some old loyalty is a characteristic of mafias. It was natural, therefore, to establish a link between the butchers of the Five-Year Grey Period, exhumed on television, and the rise to power of their longtime comrade, the man who put them on the board: Raúl Castro. continue reading

The appearance of those decorated mummies in 2007 could not be a good sign, and this was understood by the legion of intellectuals and artists who, precariously connected to their computers, began to send messages into cyberspace, asking for explanations and reading events between the lines.

That was called the “little email war,” although there was no such struggle — the “opponents” never responded — but rather a slow appeasement campaign. “It started in surprise and ended in a hangover,” Norge Espinosa said accurately. Desiderio Navarro, then a vigorous and stylish guy, officiated as marshal in what seemed to be the decisive moment for the Cuban intellectual so far this century. Time for criticism and frankness, defying in some cases the borders of the dying caudillo: the inside and the outside of the revolution.

There was no writer, musician, journalist or painter who remained silent. The debate, held for months in cyberspace, then took the form of “protected” meetings with culture officials, ministers and such. Bad thing. The first survival lesson for the intellectual is not to be locked in the same room with an official. It does not matter if it is a room or a theater, it will always lead to a torture chamber, a court or a cell.

Desiderio himself played a central role in the castration of that debate. He contributed to giving it a more peaceful, academic, politically correct character, when reality boiled beyond the lectures and halls. They were, if not the first, the already irreversible symptoms of national malaise and the state’s impatience to cut the matter short. The “little war” turned into an ambush; the ambush, into a firing squad; and then came silence.

A few weeks ago, on the primetime news broadcast, a mournful group of writers and artists placed flowers before the Great Stone, the Stone of Stones, the Stone-in-Chief. They made a profession of faith before the journalist who interrogated them, some cried, another remembered the el comandante and hugged the grave. I recognized several of the “pilgrims” and I confess that I never would have expected such a tearful display of affection. I wondered if they had always been so faithful, so unconditional, and then I remembered the old literary joke: no one seemed, but everyone was.

Where are the others? Those who have not been pacified by official anesthesia, those who did not sign the armistice after the “little war” and its aftermath. Most in exile; the others, crushed, imprisoned or jaded, battling the blackout to send the last email.

In his book on the events that concern us, Villa Marista en Plata, Antonio José Ponte made it clear that if the timorous and complicit intelligentsia that rules in Cuba is fighting for something, it is not because of privileges, trips and publications. They fight, even if it seems unreal, to gain time. “A time unconcerned with all accountability, free from checks… The borderless time within which the work is done. The time they will never find in capitalism.”

But doing business with Cuban power is always volatile and double-edged. There is no longer room for the innocence or passivity of Desiderio, to whom the government showed that it would not forgive even “soft” and organized dissent. Those to whom he offers a space are the usual mediocre, lame in talent, hallucinated, fanatical and snitches with guitar or microphone. Of course, they must be loyal like a Doberman.

Just take a look at the Higher Institute of Art or the Ministry of Culture, the University of Havana or Las Villas; to glorified puppets like Michel Torres, Israel Rojas or Humberto López, to gauge the agony of the new commissioners. They have air conditioning, they recite poems, they line up for gas at the Geely, they enjoy the Armed Forces’ beggar’s hotel, but they are hollow and would give their kingdom for a little trip where they can finally disappear into the crowd.

That is why, as long as they can live, they go to the Santa Ifigenia cemetery to pray so that that unnecessary “little war” will never be repeated, not even in fifteen years. They put flowers, they kneel and tremble, because that Gray Boulder will become – sooner rather than later – their wailing wall.

Translator’s note: *Navarro founded the journal Criterios in 1972.

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Very Cruel and Painful Days are Coming in Cuba

Amelia Calzadilla*, in her second video, also denounced the shortages experienced by the Cuban people. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 19 June 2022 – “I don’t care about your fear”: I heard this phrase in a film from Cuba. A woman’s voice that synthesized the feelings of many others, all fed up with a cocktail that has lasted 63 years, in which only repression and misery are mixed. An expression that reflects, in my modest opinion, the probability of very cruel and painful days that should lead to a new homeland where there are no executioners or perpetrators.

That was one of the voices I heard on social media this week. A comment that only occurs in a frightened society like the Cuban one. Where terror prevails, people censor themselves and ensure that their loved ones don’t break the circle of fear because of the harm that could happen to them.

Another heartbreaking testimony I had the opportunity to see was that of a mother of three who denounces the precarious situation she faces with her family. A forceful and irrefutable evidence of the failure of Castro totalitarianism, in addition, to show the useless sacrifice of large segments of several generations of Cubans to work in favor of a project that has devastated the island and many of the values of its citizens.

Castroism in any of its derivatives, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Bolivian and an eventual Colombian if Gustavo Petro comes to power, only leads to failure and frustration. It is an inefficient proposal in all its expressions, except for its undeniable ability to impose strict social control based on repression and disinformation. continue reading

Young people should consider miraculous political proposals with great deliberation. It’s true that in politics there are very bad things that must be eradicated, but they shouldn’t be a reason to blindly believe in an enlightened person who only assures that he will change everything to build a bright future. You have to educate yourself, know the past and learn that “my rights end where those of others begin.”

The example of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua should serve as a model for new generations who hope to “conquer heaven” without understanding that a comfortable life within justice is only achieved with work. The rest remains to be seen.

Cubans overwhelmingly embraced their Messiah and repudiated those who denied him. In that commotion of unbridled hysteria, as the historian and journalist Enrique Encinosa described it, representatives of all generations closed their eyes and lent themselves to hunt down those who disagreed. They were the ones who helped destroy the country, leading the emerging generations to the degree of despair that this mother shows when, aware of the reprisals she may suffer, she accuses the Government of being inept, corrupt and complacent, with everything badly done.

It’s true that it has been the Castro leadership and all its officials, including police and military, who have supported the disgraced regime for more than six decades, but they have also contributed to the support and formation of the colonies of Venezuela and Nicaragua, who have lent their skills and talents to disseminate and convince the so-called silent majority of the justice and profitability of the totalitarian project.

A totalitarian regime doesn’t allow fiefdoms; only those who oppose it are relatively free of its mandates. However, the rest of the citizenry must behave as ordered by the authorities, which motivates a very high level of complicity and an understanding of the fear that transcends the individuality of the person, a syndrome of defenselessness that transforms citizens into a herd without will, but that reaches a moment of rupture as happened with this mother, who asks to be arrested and urges the rest of the mothers of the island to unite, to demand once and for all respect for their rights and a dignified life.

This anguished mother* calls the regime a liar when she exposes one of its fundamental falsehoods that says the “goods belong to the people.” We all listened and read, repeated ad nauseam, “this belongs to the people,” and we must have the courage to deny it as this lady, who is suffering numerous reprisals and abuse from the authorities, has done. All that remains is to trust that more mothers, citizens, will join her call to achieve a country “with all and for the good of all.”

*Amelia Calzadilla

Translated by Regina Anavy
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Two Players Leave the Cuban Team that Plays the Pan American Under-23 in Mexico

Alfredo Fadraga, one of the escaped players, was considered one of the most talented of his generation. (Play Off Magazine)

14ymedio, Madrid, June 16, 2022 — Ávila players Alfredo Fadraga and Yosvany Ávalos abandoned the Cuban team that is competing in the Pan American U-23 Championship held in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

The news was confirmed in the early hours of Thursday on social networks by the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB), which explained that the flight took place on Wednesday night. “In leaving like that, they have reneged on the commitment made to the delegation and the homeland,” says the FCB on its Twitter account.

José Alejandro Rodríguez Zas, reporter for Swing Completo, was the first to publish the information, confirmed by his sources in the competition. The journalist explained that the escape occurred by taking advantage of the national team’s rest day, although he wouldn’t give more details “at the express request of the sources.”

The Cuban team had a placid tournament until it qualified to play this Thursday with the host, Mexico, on the last day of the qualifying phase, and with a view to obtaining first place ahead of the semifinals. continue reading

Last Monday, outfielder Roidel Martínez requested his dismissal from the headquarters of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) after being excluded, specifically, from this Under-23 team, which competes in Aguascalientes.

It’s been less than a year since the Cuban U-23 team selected for the World Championship, which was held in the Mexican state of Sonora, returned with half of the players who left, 12 out of 24.

Despite the fact that the massive escape captured international attention, to the point that official sports journalists drew attention to a problem that demanded political changes in the sports field, nothing has changed since then, and at each exit from the island the challenge of not losing members is now greater than that of winning the tournament.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Electrical Capacity Will Stabilize within Months, Predicts Cuban President

Miguel Diaz-Canel during a television address on Thursday. (Captura)

14ymedio, Havana, 16 June 2022 — Cuba’s National Energy System remains in critical condition after protests erupted across the country in recent days, rattling the nerves of Cuban government officials. Radio and television programming was interrupted on Thursday for an address by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who emphasized that the country’s electricity generation would stabilize in the coming months. This did little, however, to relieve the frustration Cubans are feeling over the nation’s constant blackouts.

The president claimed that planned investments in repairs and maintenance, to be financed with income recently generated from tourism and sales at the nation’s hard currency stores, would stabilize electrical energy supplies within a few months.

Diaz-Canel admitted once again that the government did not have the generating capacity to meet the daily needs of the Cuban people, though his speech did offer a ray of hope: “Our country has signed an agreement with a friendly country, a negotiation by which three new generation ’blocks’ will be established, which will also have an eye towards the country’s future growth.”

The president explained that blackouts are the result of attempts to switch consumers from using electricity during peak hours to times when there is less demand and generating capacity is greater. He admitted, however, that this effort has not been successful due to current “conditions” at the nation’s power plants. continue reading

“Balancing this consumption load has been done society-wide, especially by limiting certain economic activities, but it is not possible to mitigate these peaks any further,” he said.

He also reported that recent repairs made to power plants have had little effect, citing one at the Lidio Ramon plant in Felton as an example. “These repairs are extremely costly for the country,” he added.

He described the construction of new facilities as “an investment that will take years,” adding that “you cannot create a new power plant overnight.” Without identifying the country or the exact date, he mentioned the establishment of new generation ’blocks’ to generate energy: “Our country, along with a friendly country, has signed an agreement, a negotiation by which three new ’blocks’ will be established, which will also have an eye towards the country’s future growth.”

In a television appearance late last month, Diaz Canel acknowledged the gravity of the situation and warned, “The coming days will be difficult.” He added, however, that things should improve by late May though he did not provide the audience with specific dates.

In a later appearance on the television interview “Roundtable” program, he acknowledged that the island’s power plants are operating at 40% capacity, with zero reserves. Since then, planned outages have been testing the well-worn patience of Cuban consumers, who have had to put up with outages lasting twelve to fourteen hours or more.

The blackouts have been met with protests at several locations throughout the island, as happened Monday night, when residents at the main campus of Ignacio Agramonte University in Camaguey lashed out after more than ten hours without power.

The protestors took to the streets, heading towards the city center to demand, and even prompt, the restoration of service. The power cuts have also been affecting the water supply, preventing residents from bathing.

A street protest erupted on Wednesday night on the streets of Manzanillo, a town in Granma province, prompting the power to be turned back on. In others cities, walls have been painted with slogans such as “Diaz-Canel Is an Asshole” and “Down with the Castros.” Others include “They’re Killing People” and “Homeland and Life.”

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