Open Letter From a Cuban Priest to Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Church of the Savior in Novo-Ogaryovo, outside Moscow. (EFE/EPA/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, José Conrado Rodríguez Alegre, Trinidad, Cuba, 2 April 2022 — The person who is writing to you is a Cuban Catholic priest, pastor of the parish of Paula, in the city of Trinidad. Since February 24 I have been waiting for the news that arrives from Ukraine and I do not stop praying for that long-suffering people, and for their own country, for Russia, and for the presidents of both countries and their governments. I continually ask for the cessation of hostilities, for the return of peace to that region and to the world. I feel my heart oppressed by the scenes of destruction that I see (on the internet, because the press in my country hardly reflects what is happening in Ukraine) and by the stories of the innocent victims of this genocidal and unjust war that you have started in an unilateral manner.

Since the war began, an Aesop fable that I learned in Latin when I was a child has come to mind. You Russians and we Cubans share a common heritage that is rooted in the Christian faith and Hellenistic-Roman culture, which gave rise to Western Christian civilization and Eastern Christian civilization, of which Russia is a part, as are other Slavic peoples. There is a common substrate that feeds us spiritually.

Aesop’s fable told of a wolf drinking water on the riverbank, near a sheep. The wolf began to accuse the sheep for making the water he was drinking dirty. The sheep respectfully replied: “Mr. Wolf, I’m downstream, and you’re upstream. I can’t dirty your water.” But the wolf began to insult the sheep, who dared to reply: “Sheep, you have challenged me and I cannot forgive you for that.” The sheep tried to explain that she did not want to offend the wolf. It was no use. The end of the story is that the wolf ate the sheep.

When I listen to your speeches and see the events of the last few weeks, Aesop’s fable comes to mind. And you, Mr. President, are for me the wolf that has provoked all this, to eat the sheep. The script was written in advance.

You justified your attack on Ukraine based on the idea of ​​a future armed intervention that was being hatched in Ukraine with the support of NATO. But the only one who was prepared for war, with vastly superior armies and weapons, was you. And the one who repeatedly intervened in the internal politics of Ukraine was you. In truth, it is not hidden from me that the European Union, or rather the United Nations, made a fatal mistake, and that was to allow Russia in 2014, continue reading

against all rights and for no reason, with manu militari to annex Crimea and, due to the handling of a disloyal and rapacious policy, you intervened in the internal affairs of Ukraine, encouraging separatism in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, a treacherous plan concocted by you, at the cost of international justice and the peace of a nation, in addition to the death, in the last eight years, of 14,000 human beings.

Mr. President, when I try to analyze your statements and compare them with your behavior, I see nothing but incoherence, duplicity and ill will. An old Castilian proverb says “the lie has short legs.” Time and time again you have ended up doing what you previously said you were not going to do. You have lied without shame, accusing others of the crimes you were planning to commit.  You accused Ukraine of arming itself for the war but it was you who raised and equipped an army and launched it against a country much smaller and poorer than Russia.

You accused NATO and Europe of threatening Russia and having bad intentions against your country, and they could not have shown more resistance and restraint against your invasion and war against Ukraine. It was you, more recently, who ordered Russian nuclear weapons put on alert. The other countries have shown much greater will for peace and no desire to begin the tortuous and unpredictable path of war.

In the 20th century, humanity faced a situation similar to the current one: when a man named Adolf Hitler, invested with a conscience of messianic superiority, launched his country and his people into a terrible and disastrous war. Hitler accused the whole world of wanting to harm his country and began to claim the territories of other nations as his own: thus he annexed Austria (the Anschluss, in March 1938) and the Sudetenland (in September 1938). Later, he occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia (in March 1939). On September 1, 1939, the invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War II.

In you, as in Hitler, I find a similar contempt for international law, the same contempt for human life, the use of lies as a weapon against the opponent. But also, the resource of the brutal and unfair attack to defend the threatened security of your country. But as before in Germany, this has been the best way to plunge your country into chaos and universal rejection, and you are responsible for this spiral of nonsense that will drag Russia into the abyss. Chechnya (1999), Georgia (2008), Crimea and Donbas (2014) are the different stations of a diabolical Way of the Cross.

But don’t forget, President, that the hubris (excessive arrogance) of blind power and pride sows destruction and death. Never forget that God confounds the proud. “He brings down the powerful from their thrones and exalts the humble with good things and sends the rich away empty, as the Blessed Virgin Mary said in the Magnificat.

God is on the side of the poor, of the meek of heart, of the peaceful, of those who suffer for defending justice, because they are hungry and thirsty for it. You started this ill-fated war thinking of an early victory. You did not even imagine the courage of the Ukrainian people. You thought that the countries of Europe would never show solidarity with the Ukrainian people, softened by their comfort and prosperity and afraid of putting their money at risk. You were wrong, Mr Putin.

And what a surprise, Mr. Putin, you got with the Kiev clown, with Mister Bean from Ukraine, with that President Zelensky whom you accused of being a Nazi even though he is Jewish and lost part of his family in the Holocaust. Who is the Nazi in this story, Mr Putin? That man you disparaged has become one of the most listened to, respected and revered politicians in the world. His wisdom, bravery and courage are an inspiration to men of goodwill all over the world. How great is God! “The Lord raises the helpless from the dust and lifts the poor from the trash.”

They say that some of your advisers are under arrest, accused of not having warned you of what could happen (and in fact it is happening). Mr. Putin, hasn’t more than twenty years at the top of the dome of power taught you that subordinates tell their führers what they want to hear? The spiral of delirium is born from not wanting to hear anything other than what we like, and isolates the leader, first from his people and then from reality.

Didn’t you know, Mr. Putin, that in the early 1930s Stalin was responsible for the death of between seven and ten million Ukrainians, in his eagerness to collectivize the agriculture of that republic? Hitler had not yet opened the first concentration camp and the Russian communists had already massacred that country and banned the Ukrainian language, in truth, a double genocide difficult for a people to forget.

I imagine that there is no Ukrainian family that has not lost a relative in that dirty war, where the weapons were in the hands of the Red Army faced the famished bodies of the starving Ukrainians. That explains the fierce resistance that this people is making to the Russian invasion. In the KGB they didn’t teach you history, Mr Putin? How could you think and make your soldiers think that the Ukrainian people were going to receive them with roses in their hands? My God, Mr. Putin!

According to the news, you are a man of belief, there is even talk of your friendly relationship with Patriarch Kirill. How can you justify from your faith the holocaust of an entire people and the massive violation of human rights? I cannot forget the example of the bishop of Milan, Saint Ambrose, when he prevented the emperor Theodosius from entering the cathedral to participate in divine worship because he had massacred the inhabitants of Corinth, destroying the city with them inside. Stop the violence, President Putin. Every day that passes, the blood shed by the Ukrainian people and Russian soldiers weighs heavily on you. Enough of war!

Despite the disinformation and ignorance in which the Russian people live due to the submission of the media to the established power, there are thousands of people who have dared to protest, there are journalists in their country who have allowed themselves to dissent. They have endangered their freedom and their survival: these are the ones you should listen to. Not to the small group of those who have led you and Russia to this impasse. But if you do not listen to the voice of conscience, if you are not capable of turning back, in the end you will have achieved universal vilification for yourself and for Russia, to end up becoming the junior partner of the Chinese empire or being relegated to the role that North Korea’s ruler for life sadly plays today: a neighborhood bully, yes, with pockets full of nuclear weapons and with a people struggling in misery afflicted by endemic hunger. Someone one might fear, but no decent person will ever respect.

And believe me, Mr Putin, the most intelligent Russians, the best prepared, those who got used to savoring the independence that comes from communicating and traveling without restrictions and breathing the air of freedom; they will not want to return to the totalitarian gag that you are already imposing on the country. Mr. Putin, those Russians, when they realize that they cannot vote with their hands, they will vote with their feet: they will leave “their” Russia, which will no longer be theirs. I know what I’m talking about

I assure you that I am praying for you and your people, whom I admire, because despite long years of religious persecution in Soviet times, you kept your faith in Christ and your deep piety to the Mother of God. That is “Holy Russia,” which has produced great saints, profound mystics, magnificent writers, famous musicians and respected scientists who today form part of the common heritage of all humanity. Therein lies the true greatness of a country, Mr. Putin, in its spirituality: not in political power or military force, especially when these are used to harm others.

Mr. Putin, may God have mercy on you, on us and on the whole world!

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

Boxer Herich Ruiz Escapes and Connects a Hook to the Liver to the Cuban Regime

Herich Ruiz left the boxing team after weighing in for his fight against American Arjan Iseni. (Latin Press)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 30 March 2022 — Cuban boxer Herich Ruiz landed the second hook to the regime’s liver. The athlete escaped “after the weigh-in for his fight” against the American Arjan Iseni. The news has been confirmed by the Cuban Boxing Federation, Domadores de Cuba published on Facebook. The team from the Island is participating in the Continental Championship that is held in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil.

The bronze medalist at the World Boxing Championships in Serbia 2021 was reprimanded, as is common by sports authorities when defections occur. They point to him for “turning his back on the commitment assumed for this competition and the plans that involved him.”

Ruiz’s escape is the second hook to the liver received by the Domadores de Cuba team. The first to leave the official delegation was the junior world champion in Yerevan, Armenia in 2012, Kevin Brown Bazain. His escape took place during the journey to Ecuador.

Ruiz had been chosen by the president of the Cuban Boxing Federation, Alberto Puig de la Barca, as the team’s representative at the Guayaquil Pan-American, which also means the island’s first international participation in 2022. continue reading

The native of Isla de la Juventud, a competitor in the 86-kilogram category, was one of the benchmarks to follow. Cubans Damián Arce (54 kg), Erislán Romero (51 kg) and Rafael Joubert (60 kg) remain in the Domadores delegation. While Billy Rodríguez (48 kg) will face Guatemalan Josué López in the final next Friday.

To the escapes in boxing is added the exodus of young baseball players. This Wednesday, Danell Figueroa and Yorelquis Hernández left the Island for the Dominican Republic. “Since the end of 2021, the emigration of Cuban baseball has been reactivated and more than 60 players have left” the island, the exiled journalist in Miami, Francys Romero, reported on his social networks .

Hernández “debuted in the 60th National Series with Santiago de Cuba,” commented the communicator. “He comes from starring in the youth categories and also joined the Cuban teams in the 2017 Pan American U-15 in Cartagena, Colombia. There he pitched six no-run innings, taking the victory against Panama.”

Figueroa is originally from Matanzas and “was part of Cuba’s preselection for the U-18 World Cup, a tournament in which Cuba ultimately declined to participate.” Romero stressed that “at only 17 years old, he is the real example of the future of Cuban baseball: players do not want to wait for time to pass while they develop or lose value, the only way out is exodus.”

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

A Fair for the Official Cameras Seeks to Revive Havana’s Malecon

In the line, the majority did not even show interest in following a race in which several Cuban sports figures participated. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 2 April 2022 — More interested in reaching for a bit of bread than in enjoying sports games or car races, this is what the hundreds of people who came to the Malecón in Havana this Saturday looked like. Along the coast, the authorities set up kiosks with limited offerings in tribute to the Union of Young Communists and the organization of pioneers.

“I had to go to my house to get a bottle of water because everything here is very expensive,” an employee of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) complained near Maceo Park. The woman arrived at the place along with other work colleagues who were called “mandatorily” to the event.

“A package of popcorn costs 25 pesos. That is outrageous for an activity designed especially for children and young people. The prices of everything are going through the roof despite the fact that Party officials have come to supervise how everything is going,” the state employee complained.

“My work schedule is from Monday to Friday, but when they invent something like that, then I also lose the weekend because I can’t say ’no’. This is the time I use to do the wash, resolve pending issues or take care of my family but we’ve been told this had to look lively and crowded.” continue reading

Near the corner of Belascoaín Street and under the sun, some tables with chessboards were part of the entertainment options. Along other parts of the coast there were games of dominoes, equipment for team games and an exhibition of educational materials. But most of these options were empty of a public that preferred to crowd around the food stands.

“I came with my two children because a neighbor told me that they were selling Pellys [corn puffs] and also that there was bread,” said Yasmary, speaking to 14ymedio, Yasmany is a young mother who was especially interested in “buying something that later serves as a snack for the children to take to school.”

In the line, the majority did not even show interest in following a race in which several Cuban sports figures participated. Nor did the competition between vehicles attract the attention of eager customers who feared that the goods would run out before it was their turn to buy.

The call, one of the first in that area of ​​the Cuban capital after the limitations imposed by the pandemic for almost two years, stumbled in its first hours with little supply, the high prices of the products and a certain popular apathy that the loudspeakers, recorded music and television cameras failed to shake.

“Tonight sure everything looks different on the news,” sneered a resident from neighboring San Lázaro street who came to the Malecón in search of some refreshments. “When the TV cameras went away everything relaxed. Even the runners sped up the race when they passed in front of the camera but when the journalists left they got into the lines for food, like everyone else.”

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

Cuba’s Council of Ministers Turns its Back on the Country’s Economic Reality

Hundreds of boxes of mangoes were left in the fields torot in Camagüey in the current harvest of 2021, for lack of resources to collect and market them. (Adelante)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 30 March 2022 — Cuba’s Council of Ministers has said that “not without tensions, the Cuban economy is reactivated.” And to this the state newspaper Granma dedicates an extensive report, which includes no data to to justify this assertion.

We are at the end of March, and we are still waiting for the estimate of quarterly and annual GDP growth in 2021. Whatever happened in the fourth quarter, still unknown, will be a good indicator of whether the Council of Ministers is telling the truth, or simply, lies.

The economic plan, that impossible contraption to which the Cuban communists cling as if it were the philosopher’s stone, presents figures that are alien to the current reality of the world economy, and if they are not rectified, they will once again make a fool of themselves, with serious breaches of forecasts. Nothing will happen.

Later it will be decided that the  responsibility falls on the American ‘blockade’ and everyone is happy. But Cubans will once again suffer the scarcity, misery and unequal poverty that is the sign of the times on the island.

Cuban president Díaz-Canel said that “in the midst of the complex situation that Cuba is experiencing, we cannot give up compliance with the economic plan, we must continue to recover the levels of production, exports, income to the country, and change strategies in certain activities to fulfill and grow with respect to the previous year.” continue reading

Yes, this is all very well; Díaz-Canel says and repeats that “there is, there is and there is”, but who is in charge of achieving that “there is”? Because, it is all very well to direct the economy with harangues, but that is not how you feed the people, you have to be practical.

Prime Minister Marrero also praised the plan and pointed out that “our job is the constant, realistic and objective updating of the Economic-Social Strategy, taking into account the processes that are being experienced” and then continuing with the perfection of the state Enterprise.

But let’s go to the data offered in the Granma report. The Council of Ministers has recognized that February “was once again a tense month for the Cuban economy, although certain indicators showed a more favorable situation compared to January, and also to the same period in 2021.” Tense is one way of naming the serious crisis that continues to affect the Cuban economy and that it is hopeless to hide.

Among the improvement indicators, “the plan for exports of agricultural products with a better performance in the markets” was cited. But don’t even think about food. The exports are rum, lobster, shrimp, honey, products that we Cubans are totally ignorant of. That maxim of exporting without satisfying the population’s demand is an insult to the intelligence of Cubans, but the Council of Ministers considers these exports of agricultural products to be an improvement.

The other data in which they see better behavior is tourism, but it is recognized that “it has not yet recovered from the resounding fall.” If tourism in January and February 2022 is compared with that of the last year before the pandemic, it does not even reach 20% of the figures then. Other than discreet advances, tourism does not raise its head. And it is insisted that this scenario is typical of Cuba, while the Dominican Republic has registered an exceptional first quarter in the tourist business.

The Economic and Social Strategy, which in its day was Díaz Canel’s protective shield against the serious consequences of the pandemic, was also pursued for its proposals to “oxygenate the economy faster.” But there is a feeling that, two years later, due to some blockage, that oxygen does not reach the lungs, and the economy is failing, suffocating with so many measures that are useless, acting only as patches in the face of very serious problems that require structural decisions.

And the communists recognize and applaud that they have to “increase production; improve the supply of food and medicines, and public transportation, anti-inflationary measures and stability in the electrical system,” but these measures remain in the statement, and do not come down to reality, and meanwhile, the Cuban economy languishes.

In the Council of Ministers, there was talk of the existence of different recognized economic actors, but for them, the proposal is not in line with more freedom and capacity for autonomy, but rather that “the State continues to fulfill its regulatory role, fully entering in the economic-financial, planning, control and management methods of private companies.” They say they want to reduce bureaucratic obstacles, but they do not renounce an ideological and outdated interventionism that seeks to put private companies at the service of the regime. A bad business.

There was also talk of the purpose “of expanding, in a more efficient and effective way, foreign investment in the country,” but at the same time they are messing around with an expropriation law that establishes differences between foreign and national capital that, one can be sure, will generate not a little uneasiness among international investors who are going to promote projects on the island.

Similarly, measures to deal with shortages were cited, “applying measures to internal trade that generate tranquility in the population, based on forms of marketing that allow, in a controlled manner, that goods arrive more equitably.” The answer is easy. Stop marketing agricultural products through the State company Acopio, give producers freedom to decide what, how much and at what price to sell, and free the markets, and you will see how the supply to the national market in pesos increases.

Of the socialist state company, whose “disadvantages with respect to other economic actors” were highlighted, the Council of Ministers insisted on its “fundamental role in the future of the nation” but once again, its actions go in the exact opposite direction in which they should go. It turns out that now they think that state companies can improve their performance thanks to “a political process of characterization of business management, which is telling us that we must make the policy of cadres in that sector more dynamic.” Let’s see if they manage that.

They also defended popular participation in all the processes of the nation, and insisted that “business decisions must also be brought to the workers. In our companies there has to be a different dynamic of participation.” What was missing.

This is to be developed with the “potentialities of the interface companies that have been created with the knowledge sector” the new science and innovation toy that has been given a certain role in the technological science parks. Pure and simple consulting business.

At this point, Economy and Planning Minister Alejandro Gil Fernández. took it upon himself to explain, in somewhat more detail, the state of the Cuban economy in February.

In his opinion, the most significant thing was that “the export of goods grew compared to January and also to the same period in 2021,” but he did not provide the data, so it is impossible to confirm his assertion. Of course, he said that the best exportable items were rum, lobster, sea shrimp and other fishery products; in addition to honey and nickel. The same as always. In addition, it is noted that between 2017 and 2020 these products barely represented 20% of Cuba’s total exports, so their impact in terms of income is reduced.

The deviations came when talking about food deliveries from Agriculture to the balance of the country. In February this affected the national production of rice, beef and pork. Basic food products for the population that are scarce. However, he pointed out that milk presented a favorable situation. Here if he offered the data, “little more than 31 million liters collected, which has affected, fundamentally, the increase in the price to producers.” Between 2017 and 2020, the average annual milk production in Cuba reached 538.8 thousand tons. The figure of 31 million liters cited by the minister is very low, in relative and absolute terms, barely 5%.

Minister Gil pointed out that in some agricultural products growth is taking place. And for this, he cited the comparison with the production of the first two months of 2021, to point out that today there are 77,378 more tons, still far from satisfying the demand. It is not easy to determine the satisfaction of the needs of the population citing tons of food, as if it were food for livestock. That lack of respect that leads to using indexes that insult the intelligence. The minister said, in relation to this issue, that he sees “the presence of products in the markets and greater stability in supply, which is essential to control inflation.” If he says so.

With regard to tourism, the minister pointed out that it can “achieve a better recovery, and of course, it pulls other sectors,” a controversial issue that is not clear about this “draft” as it occurs. He highlighted that 99,223 tourists arrived in February, representing 66.3% of what was planned, a figure lower than the plan, which he justified by the rebound of Omicron in the world.

He insisted that the figure foreseen in the plan for the end of the year will be 2.5 million international visitors this year. It’s difficult. The 99 thousand tourists in February barely represent 20% of those who arrived in the same month of 2019 before the pandemic. There is a long way to go, because tourism is still moving at levels 80% below pre-pandemic figures. One has to lower expectations.

Nor did retail trade adjust to the plan, reaching only 92.2%, although the minister believes that “there are possibilities to improve this indicator, based on a set of measures that are being worked on, with the aim of increasing offers to the population.” He didn’t mention what the measures are. In addition, in Cuba, the indicator of mercantile circulation is so affected by the amount of money in the hands of the public, that it is not a good measure of the economic situation, but of the lack of control of prices.

He referred to the data of MSMEs (micro, small and medium size businesses) and CNAs (non-agricultural cooperatives) created in the period being evaluated. In total, 470 MSMEs and 7 non-agricultural cooperatives, with which 6,758 new jobs were generated from these undertakings. Figures that continue to be low and that prevent the process from being described as a success.

He also spoke of the 439 companies with losses, more or less the same ones that have been in this situation since last year, and although he justified the results by saying that before there were around 500, the truth is that he stated that the number of countries without losses has to reach zero. In that sense, he explained that they are in “a timely review of each of these entities to identify the causes and, above all, the solutions.”

Undertaking the rescue operation of these companies goes through privatization or sale decisions that do not seem to be in the plans of the regime, but that would serve to overcome the serious situation in which they find themselves. The rest is nonsense.

He then referred to inflation and what he called “irrational prices, both in the state and non-state sectors,” which are going to be confronted with effective measures, although he did not state what measures are involved. Of course, he turned to delivering the outdated speech that pleases the communist audience so much, in the sense that “abuse cannot be allowed, one thing is the increase in costs, associated with the increase in the price of imports, and it is another to take advantage of the scarcity and to try to win two, three and even four times more.”

Hopefully the minister was able to understand what is one thing, and what is another. He would have an easier time in an economy where prices were not set by bureaucrats, but by supply and demand. He did not want to take advantage of the February data, which has placed the year-on-year inflation rate at 23.03% compared to 77.3% in December 2021. A good result, which, however, the minister did not want to assert. He will have his reasons for that, most likely a price rebound in the coming months. We’ll see.

In his opinion, to fight against inflation “you have to work at the base, where the economic event is generated, where products are being sold at exorbitant prices.” In this he agreed with this blog, when he said that the solution “is not only to issue a Resolution of the Ministry of Finance and Prices that establishes certain parameters, we must combat this, arguing with the cost sheets in hand.” Goodness. We are gradually approaching rationality, but without reaching it. Finally, Marrero took the floor to ask, surprisingly, for “more solutions of our own to the problems that the nation faces today, in the midst of a complex situation marked by a tightened blockade, the crisis generated by the pandemic, to which is added the conflict in Ukraine, which logically has an impact on our economy.” But is it understood that he must be the one to find those solutions.

Well no. He took advantage of his turn to make a call to businessmen, to groups at all levels, to look for variants that allow each of the problems to be solved, because we cannot sit back and wait, for example, for foreign currency to be allocated to us, today it’s not possible. So, in this governance model that Marrero has invented, what should the government do? Lock up dissidents?

Marrero said that we have to continue developing ourselves. Now more than ever, “each of us from our responsibility, we have to dress up to look for solutions, to find alternatives that allow us to continue advancing in the midst of so many complex problems.” And doesn’t Marrero believe that you can also advance and much better so with fatigues and rolling up your sleeves to work hard?

The Council of Ministers addressed the same issues as always, which according to Granma “has a great impact for the country,” such as the status of accounts receivable and payable after the deadline; the implementation of the comprehensive strategy for the export of goods and services; the economic effects caused by irregularities in foreign trade activities; and compliance with the Port-Transport-Internal Economy Operation.

Other issues of “great impact” were compliance with the plans to confront urban illegalities, prevention and confrontation with fuel theft, postgraduate academic training, master’s degrees, specialties and doctoral training, as well as the proposal to promote a development resilient and low in greenhouse gas emissions.

Surprisingly, in the Council of Ministers, two leaders gave an account of their management, in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic, the governor of Guantánamo, and the minister of energy and mines. Terminations in sight? Movements on the bench?

With regards to the minister of energy and mines, Marrero considered the need to move to another stage in the development of renewable energy sources, and pointed out that “we need to speed up the transition to cleaner energies,” relying on the experience of companies in the Mariel Special Development Zone. Afternoon. Their time is running out.

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 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.

Another Victim of the Cuban Regime’s Blackmail Arrives in Miami: UNPACU Militant Ovidio Martin

Ovidio Martín, his wife, Zenaida Rams, and their two children aboard the plane that took them to Fort Lauderdale Airport, in Miami (USA). (Facebook)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 30 March 2022 — “I left Cuba against my will,” activist Ovidio Martín said on Tuesday upon his arrival at the Fort Lauderdale airport in Miami (USA) in the company of his wife, Zenaida Rams, and their two children. Ovidio Martín was one of the coordinators of the opposition Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu); he told journalist Rolando Napoles that the regime threatened to prosecute him for the crimes of bribery and corruption.

“With great pain for leaving behind the land that saw my birth, my brothers in prison, my family and everything I have fought for so much,” he wrote in a post, he assured that he will continue to contribute to the cause. “Patria y Vida” [Homeland and Life], closed the message.

The opponent denounced the repression by “the political police,” the fabrication of charges and “the threat of imprisoning him for several years.” On April 14, he was summoned to the Santiago de Cuba Operations Center where he was warned that he could be prosecuted for the crimes of “bribery and treason.”

On another occasion, Martín pointed out, he was intimidated for allegedly failing to pay a fine of 3,000 pesos that had been imposed by Decree Law 370. “I told them that I was not going to pay because it was arbitrary and unfair.” And again the crime of bribery appeared, this time “an inspector lent himself to say that I wanted to bribe him and I didn’t even know why?” continue reading

And if the harassment against Martín was constant, it is even more so against the national coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), José Daniel Ferrer. “He is in a cell that the regime prepared for him in the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba,” the activist explained. “A cell to specifically take José Daniel, put him there and let what is happening to him happen to him. It’s very bad.”

In addition, he accused the regime of launching a hate campaign against those attending the July 11 marches. “Shut up or we put you in jail or you have to leave,” are the warnings at the police stations for the protesters.

In May 2020, after an arbitrary arrest, Martín announced his intention to go into exile because his family was in danger. His wife, Zenaida Rams, who is an activist with Cuba Decide, was recovering from an infection contracted in a hospital during her last delivery and they also threatened her. “It was like this for a year,” said the activist.

Rams said that she had “been beaten many times, including, during the pregnancy of my second child, I was in therapy for the beating they gave me.”

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Data Indicates that Pork is Already in Danger of Extinction on Cuban Tables

In 2016, a great year for the production of pork from Cienfuegos, 20,296 tons were delivered, compared to 3,919 in 2021. (Paul K.)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 1 April 2022 — Pork production continues to fall and the well seems bottomless. This Thursday the alarms went off in Sancti Spíritus when it was learned that in the first two months of the year, the province delivered the ridiculous amount of 52 tons of meat, the equivalent of the production of a single day in 2018. The previous year, 2017, was they reached 17,400 tons of pork, contributed by 311 producers, while in 2021 there were 3,182 and only 99 people dedicated to it.

Félix Duarte Ortega, a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party and head of its Agri-Food Department, asked that the pig breeding program be restored, as well as to preserve the facilities and “make them productive now.” However, he did not explain how to do it or give solutions to some producers who end up throwing in the towel due to the lack of aid in a context of hyperinflation that aggravates the perpetual crisis in the Cuban countryside.

Quite the contrary, the official scolded those who seek to earn a living in another way, for not contributing to feeding the country. “In this province the bottom has been reached, when we also see that of the Sancti Spíritus  producers, the majority have abandoned the pig program, and we are at a time when the Revolution needs to recover productive capacities and put into practice lessons learned from other stages.”

A producer, Yarién Negrín Cáceres, took the floor, and made the same recommendation, saying that the recipe to recover pork meat is none other than work. As simple as that.

In addition, he warned that “the country today is not in a position to ensure basic food (fodder) as it was until a few years ago” and recommended a tool that, by itself, is not easy to produce results: the will. “It’s time to start recovering pork production by producing food ourselves in agricultural areas, putting forward the will, taking advantage of existing capacities and breeding experience.” continue reading

It is not hidden that the collapse crosses the borders of Sancti Spiritus, and just 24 hours before Cienfuegos was facing a similar truth. Duarte paraded through that province to verify, also, the catastrophic data. In 2016, a great year for the production of pork from Cienfuegos, 20,296 tons were collected, compared to 3,919 in 2021.

There, too, he insisted that the pigs must be fed with corn, cassava (in flour and yogurt), sweet potatoes, honey with fish and crop residues, “among other local solutions” in the absence of fodder proteins, as well as being abreast of scientific innovations that allow increasing provisions for the pig.

He also tried to win over Cienfuegos producers with humanitarian reasons, forgetting that they can hardly cover their needs, and alluded to their responsibility to provide pork for social consumption (hospitals, schools, day care centers and nursing homes) and the basic market basket of the population.

Where figures are not known is from Ciego de Ávila. The information that has transpired so far is reduced to the broadcast of a short video on Canal Caribe in which the “limitations” in the pig production area are discussed. The brief report shows several “successful” producers recommending that others use new techniques from the University’s Swine Research Institute, because they have helped them.

The tour continues in Villa Clara, where last year 4,400 tons of pork were produced, somewhat better than previous years but tiny when compared to the 20,000 tons as recently as 2019 that led it to be one of the epicenters of the pig farming on the island.

Félix Duarte Ortega heard the same complaints as in his previous evaluations: the high prices of imported feed and supplies and the need to access foreign equipment for food processing. And to the same ills, the same remedies, the official must have recommended, like everyone else, to encourage breeding and take advantage of the remains.

At the beginning of March, the Camagüey provincial newspaper, Adelante also published the seriousness of the situation, in a report on the data entitled The Pig: What it Was is no Longer. Although Camagüey pork production has traditionally been well below those mentioned above, in 2017 it exceeded 9,350 tons, while in 2021 4,706 were planned and barely 1,493 were achieved. The text details the sharp drop in feed imports, which went from 65,500 tons in 2018 to 17,400 last year.

Presumably, the evaluation of the situation throughout the Island will continue, but there will not be many differences. Meanwhile, in the markets, the former star product of Cuban cuisine, depositary of the population’s faith in the consumption of animal protein, is barely to be found. As the Adelante report warns, the pig is beginning to be on the list of endangered species.

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The Fábrica de Arte Cubano Opens Its Doors After the Pandemic and the Death of the Convertible Peso

The cultural center is located on Calle 26, corner of 11th, in El Vedado. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 1 April 2022 — With a ticket price of 250 pesos, the Fábrica de Arte Cubano [Cuban Art Factory (FAC)] resumes its cultural presentations this Friday night after being closed for more than two years due to the pandemic.

“What is the cheapest rum you will sell?” a young man interested in being there asked a FAC employee this Friday afternoon. The state worker replied that the Santiago and Habana Club brands would be the cheapest.

The cultural center, near the iron bridge that crosses the Almendares river, is managed by the musician X Alfonso; before the pandemic, it mainly attracted tourists and artists from the alternative scene who had the resources to pay the price of its tickets and services.

But between the closing of its doors and this opening, there was the Ordering Task* the currency unification in January 2021, which shook a good part of the Cuban economy, raising inflation and shooting up the price of foreign currency in the informal market. Hence, the big question of this restart night is how much the Art Factory will cost now and which customers will be able to afford it.

The event schedule of the first reopening day includes the presentation of the DJs Tievo and Cusko, artists from the National School of Dance, and Roberto Fonseca and Temperamento.

*Tarea ordenamiento = the [so-called] ‘Ordering Task’ which is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso 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 other measures. 

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Luis Robles, the ‘Young Man with the Placard’, is Sentenced to Five Years in a Cuban Jail

Robles was arrested on December 4, 2020, for protesting in Havana. (Capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 30 March 2022–Activist Luis Robles, the “Young Man with the Placard”, was sentenced to five years in jail for peacefully protesting in the centrally-located Boulevard on San Rafael Street in Havana holding a sign demanding an end to the repression and freedom for Cuban rapper Denis Solís.

According to the judicial sentencing document, accessed by 14ymedio, during the trial it was “proven” that Robles “responded to a call” by Cuban influencer “Alexander Otaola for people to pronounce themselves” against the Solís’s detention, “by police authorities and directors of the State and the Government,” and to “perform any act aimed at destabilizing the internal order, publicly protesting in the street against the Cuban economic and social system.”

The phrases “Freedom. No more repression. #free-Denis [Solís]”, visible on the sign Robles was carrying, “opposed the decisions of the authorities” who determined Solís’s arrest, argued the Provincial Tribunal in Havana, where the activist’s judicial proceedings took place.

The sentence was dated March 28th, the day when authorities notified Robles, but the young man as well as his family members were only able to access the document on Wednesday, his brother Landy Fernández Elizastigui confirmed to this daily. continue reading

In the document, the judges state that the young man maintained a “marked interest in creating a destabilizing environment for the social system and domestic economic development,” arguing that “he began yelling phrases similar to those on his sign and others regarding the decisions made by the country’s leadership to resist the economic blockade to which Cuba has been subjected by the United States.”

Robles moved “from one side to the other to invite the people who were there to follow him and in that way create disorder.” Furthermore, they argue that “the events were manipulated by digital platforms serving the enemy” to “discredit the professional functioning of [Cuban] police authorities.”

The Prosecutor’s Office, during the trial which took place over three and a half months ago, had requested the young man be sentenced to six years in prison for the crimes of resistence and enemy propaganda. On various occasions Robles was denied his request for a change in his pre-trial detention during which he remained in prison.

Robles was arrested on December 4, 2020, for protesting on the Boulevard San Rafael in Havana. He peacefully protested, holding a placard above his head demanding freedom, an end to repression, and the release of controversial rapper Denis Solís.

Three days prior to taking to the streets to peacefully protest, Robles recorded a video which was released much later where he spoke about his thinking, his desires and also the reasons that led him to become a non-conformist.

“We wish with our hearts for a change, a change in the system, a change in the country, because really communism has converted this country into an true hell where it is practically impossible to breathe, not only to breathe air, but also to breathe peace, breathe tranquility,” he declared in the video.

At another point, he said “freedom is the greatest thing one can have in life and ever since these  bold-faced communists arrived, they have thwarted all kinds of freedoms, freedoms of free religion, freedoms of a free ideology, freedoms to choose whomever you want, not who they impose upon you.” And he continued: “They’ve taken our freedom of thought, they even want to dictate what we think.”

At the beginning of March, the 29-year-old released a letter in which he reiterated his struggle and his goal, “Freedom for the people of Cuba.” In the missive, Robles returns to the reasons that led him to carry out the peaceful protest for which, today, he is in jail.

“I decided to break the silence because I got tired of seeing how my country is destroyed and the Government does nothing to fix it,” he explained, “because I believe the biggest enemy Cuba has is not abroad but sitting in the presidential seat.”

Thus, he insisted that his action was so that “fear and censorship would not continue governing Cuban society, so that expressing what you think and feel, anywhere, would not be a reason for going to jail, because I want Cuba to be a country for Cubans, no matter their way of thinking, so that the streets of my country would be for everyone and not just for the communists.”

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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A Fire in Front of the Habana Libre Hotel in El Vedado Mobilizes the Cuban Authorities

The smoke, in a very central area of ​​the Cuban capital, attracted dozens of onlookers who took photos of the incident. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 31 March 2022 — A fire caused damage to three of the four apartments in the building located on Calle L number 308 between 23rd and 25th, in front of the Habana Libre hotel, in El Vedado, Havana. The residents, who were in the building at the time of the incident, had to be evacuated by rescuers.

The personnel of the Medical Emergency System attended to those evacuated from the building, which is inhabited by 10 people, and the authorities did not report human losses.

There is no official version of the possible causes of the fire, however, some of those affected said that “the fire spread to the building from a pit in the back, adjacent to the hotel being built in the area,” according to Alma Mater magazine on Facebook.

The smoke, in a very central area of ​​the Cuban capital, attracted dozens of onlookers who took photos of the incident and uploaded videos to social networks. Some tourists were also watching the event, although significantly few, given the low presence of travelers on the Island.

The National Police closed streets near the fire, while personnel from the Fire Department put out the flames.

Local authorities appeared at the site, and talked with the neighbors about the major damage to one of the apartments and the possibility, as determined, of carrying out reconstruction work on the property. “The surrounding buildings have not reported damage,” said the official press.

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The Threat of the New Expropriation Law in Cuba: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Expropriation in 1959. (laleftadiario.com)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 31 March 2022 — The Cuban communist regime has announced the forthcoming publication of a Law that will regulate the controversial issue of expropriations in the country.

An issue that deserves special attention, due to the repercussions it presents to the framework of property rights, and the necessary legal certainty that economic agents must have to produce in the economy.

According to a recent report by TheGlobalEconomy.com, Cuba’s risk of expropriation compared to 173 countries in the world places it in 15th place with a score of 6, which is immediately after the highest, of 7 points, shared by 12 countries including Afghanistan, Yemen or Venezuela, among others. Cuba falls out of this first group and is in the second step of the classification along with 14 other countries. More information from this study allows us to obtain an assessment of the importance of expropriations in Cuba.

The new law proposed by the regime to regulate expropriations seeks to put a lock on all the previous experience, and intentionally forgets the contentiousness that has persisted since the nationalizations, expropriations and confiscations occurred  in Cuba during the years 1960 to 1968. continue reading

It is observed that this “forgetfulness” of the legislator is intentional, and confirms that the communist leaders do not have the slightest intention of advancing in the restitution of the private property confiscated in those years, which reached practically 100% of the productive capital of the nation.

This law should have opted for achieving the necessary reconciliation with the owners and their confiscated heirs, but there is not the slightest intention that this should be the case. On the contrary, weak legal foundations are established to regulate expropriation processes, giving the communist state an evident supremacy with respect to other economic actors.

The law that is presented is confusing, has a terrible wording, errors in the enumeration of articles and points, and introduces dangerous repressive elements that show the worst face of communist ideology, contrary to the free and peaceful exercise of property rights by all economic actors.

A good example of this is the reference in the final provisions to the obligation imposed on small farmers to properly maintain, exploit and use the land and their other assets related to agricultural and forestry production, in a clear warning about possible expropriatory processes.

A brief review of the text raises many problems. It treats foreign and national capital unequally in confiscatory processes, does not properly define the assumptions of public utility and social interest that should justify expropriation and does not refer to legal content, maintains forced expropriation with an alternative process and carries out a confusing regulation of compensation payments.

Critically, the main problem with this law — which invalidates it for international purposes and, above all, as a possible instrument to consolidate the foundations of the future of the Cuban economy — lies in the fact that it grants the state an absolute pre-eminence with respect to the non-state actors in the expropriation processes, which borders on the most significant defenselessness, while laying the foundations for a process for which there are serious doubts about the political will to bring it to an end.

A more detailed study of the law will be carried out in the coming days.

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Central Bank of Cuba Extends Term to Change CUC to Pesos or Foreign Currency

The Cuban government has not reported for a long time on how many CUCs (Cuba Convertible Pesos) are still in the deposits of the island’s banks. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Madrid, 31 March 2022 — The Cuban authorities gave the green light this Wednesday for an extension to settle accounts in CUC (Cuban Convertible Pesos). The Central Bank of Cuba announced in a note through its website and social networks that the deadline to convert deposits in the former convertible peso to another currency is now extended to 28 December 2022.

“The at-call savings accounts, fixed-term deposits and certificates of deposit of natural persons will be kept in that currency. During that period the holder will be able to decide whether to convert the account to Cuban pesos or opt for the certificate of deposit in foreign currency, according to the conditions established for this product,” said the statement, replicated by banking institutions throughout the Island.

The automatic conversion to Cuban pesos will be made on December 28 of this year if the holder has not made the change to another currency, be it dollars, euros or any freely convertible currency (MLC), through certificates of deposit, but in no case in cash.

“The collaborators [posted abroad], to whose bank accounts the 30% bonus is applied for purchases in commercial establishments, may request, from the account in Cuban pesos, to convert all or part of the balance they had at closing of December 2020 in their accounts in convertible pesos, to a certificate of deposits in foreign currency,” adds the text. continue reading

In addition, the note states that a representative can be appointed, by power of attorney, to make the changes that the account holder chooses.

Shortly before the start of 2021, the planned changes in the Ordering Task* aimed at putting an end to dual currency were announced. This certified the end of the CUC, comparable to the dollar, which had coexisted with the national currency on the island since 1994 and whose death was announced by Raúl Castro from the beginning of his term, without his being able to find the right moment to execute it.

The Central Bank of Cuba then warned of an adaptation period of 180 days so that those who still had CUCs could get rid of them. The deadline to transform the accounts, on the other hand, was much longer, until this March 30. However, this Wednesday, the extension was announced unexpectedly.

The change occurs just seven days after the same institution recalled that there was one week left to transform the deposits, although it is not the first time that measures related to the CUC have been extended. The exchange of currency in cash suffered at least three postponements, supposedly due to the pandemic.

The Cuban government has not reported for a long time how many CUCs are still in the deposits of the island’s banks, although it is likely to be a small amount, since before the end of the convertible peso was announced, most Cubans had already gotten rid of a coin they practically considered a zombie.

The few who have maintained these accounts face the depreciation of the national currency and, indirectly, of the CUC, since the State is changing it at the official rate of 1×24, also applicable for the dollar, although the banks do not offer the option to buy foreign exchange. To get dollars or euros, the only thing left is the black market at a rate that already exceeds 100 pesos.

*Translator’s note: Ordering Task: (Tarea ordenamiento) is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso 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 other measures. 

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‘I Had to Choose Between Exile or Jail in Cuba,’ says Dr. Manuel Guerra Upon Arrival in the US

Dr. Manuel Guerra with his wife Maylén Álvarez, already in the United States. (Facebook/Manuel Guerra)

14ymedio biggerManuel Guerra, a doctor from Holguin , who left Cuba on February 19 for the United States, has requested asylum in that country together with his wife, also a doctor, Maylén Susel Álvarez.

As he himself reported in statements to Martí Noticias, the couple left for Nicaragua, with stops in Panama and El Salvador, and entered the United States from Mexico through border control in Arizona, a month later. On the trip, he says, they learned that in the coming months they will be parents for the first time.

Guerra also confesses that State Security, which had subjected him to an “investigation process” for the crime of “disrespect” and made him go every week “to sign in” at the National Revolutionary Police unit, it was was them who proposed exile.

“Lieutenant Colonel Yiosvany, the second in command of the political police in Holguín, with the subtlety and coldness that characterizes an organized mafia thug, tells me that I could end up in prison and that he would value better the possibility of leaving the country,” details the doctor speaking to Martí Noticias, while explaining that it was his mother who asked him “overcome with tears” that she preferred him “far away rather than in prison… And with the respect that one feels towards a mother, I made the decision to go.” continue reading

Currently, the couple is in Lakeland, Florida, where Guerra’s father has lived for years.

In fact, as he told 14ymedio in a recent interview, the doctor had been waiting a long time for a family reunification immigration process. His status as a resident doctor condemned him to be regulated — that is forbidden to travel — so he tried to leave the country illegally in 2019, was intercepted and the anger of the authorities increased around him.

In that conversation, Guerra narrated that the main reason for leaving the island is that he felt “very alone” in the fight for change, which he joined when he saw people like “Yunior Morales, Saily González or Yunior García Aguilera himself” opposing the regime.

A member of the Archipelago platform, the doctor was expelled from his job at the Nicodemus Regalado Hospital in Holguín and arbitrarily arrested last October, and since then the political police have not stopped harassing him.

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The Cafe-con-Leche-Cubanologists

The Spaniard Ana Hurtado and Mexican Jerónimo Zarco, visiting Cuba last week, invited by the regime. (Twitter/@Ana_Hurtado86)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 30 March 2022 – Their tongues give them away. As soon as they get off the plane they begin to blurt our phrases like “you have no idea what you have here,” “life out there is very hard,” or “with this sun, what more do you want.” While saying things like that, they take some photos in the most hackneyed tourist places, drink a mojito to the health of some guerrilla, and publish a couple of photos on social media with the blue sea as a background.

The café-con-leche-Cubanologists come to explain our own country to us and convince us to accept, here, what they wouldn’t stand for should it happen in their country. With a foreign accent and academic titles that no one can verify, they stand on the peak of their ego and speak to us as if we were tiny ants who don’t understand the need to sacrifice ourselves for a greater good. They throw in our faces that we must sacrifice ourselves so that they can point to a map and say that “utopia” has been installed on this Caribbean island.

When a skinny woman asks them for something to eat on the terrace of a luxurious restaurant in Old Havana, they assure her that gluten is bad for one’s health and that it is best not to eat red meat, while the steak overflows on their plates along with a few slices of freshly baked baguetteThey are the same ones who accuse Cuba’s July 11th (11J) protesters of being violent vandals, while they incite the burning of police cars in their cities and, in their own lives, have thrown more cobblestones than flowers. continue reading

The café-con-leche-Cubanologists question why we complain about power outages if blackouts help prolong the life of the planet; they lament that we insist on having a supply of drinking water when we could drink with our cupped hands from the rivers (they do not know that most of the streams in the country are polluted or dry), and they tell us that we are complainers for demanding shoes for our children when the contact of feet with the earth is the most recommended for energy… health and other theories of the sort.

They love to get close to power. They have a special fascination for being invited to an official reception, allowed to speak in the University of Havana’s Great Hall, and getting a decoration pinned on their lapel. Because these so-called experts on the Island consider us restless and misguided children, who do not know how to value what we have, and who must be dealt with with a heavy hand, very heavy. They like it when dictators help them maintain the colorful vignette of paradise that they advertise on their Facebook or TikTok streams.

Nothing annoys a café-con-leche-Cubanologist more than his own object of study denying him. Like on that day when people came out shouting the word “Freedom” in the streets of the Island, or the growing numbers of those who throw themselves into the sea to escape this system, or when patients show through images and testimonies the profound deterioration of the public health system. This causes them deep discomfort, because their doctoral thesis is not designed to include all possible variables, but a single and unquestionable conclusion.

The café-con-leche-Cubanologists have been declining and are becoming more and more pathetic. Once there were Nobel Prize winners, renowned artists and illustrious professors. But over time, such an occupation has become so painful and unsustainable that they have been deserting en masse, to take refuge in silence or to channel their “talent” towards other geographies. But there are still some, pathetic and pernicious.

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Rock is Thrown Through the Window of a Havana Phone Store Last Night

The office of the State telecommunications company Etecsa on Obispo Street, in Old Havana, this Tuesday, with boards on the windows. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 30 March 2022 — No one saw anything and few are talking, but the truth is that this Tuesday the office of the State telecommunications company Etecsa on Obispo Street, in Old Havana, woke up with a broken glass.

“They have already begun to break the windows of the Etecsa offices that sell in MLC (hard currency),” said the activist Ángel Cuza in a video transmitted through Facebook, while government Criminalistics agents were observed placing boards in the windows.

A curious customer who came in to buy a phone card asked the employee: “Are you going to fix it here, I see that you are boarding up the window?” The young woman replied: “No, no, it’s that there was an incident and they put that there until they change the glass.”

A neighbor residing on Havana Street, a few meters from the Etecsa office, told this newspaper that “at dawn we heard a noise but we didn’t look out.” The man, who prefers to remain anonymous, says that “this area is very noisy and until the wee hours you hear a lot of noise, music and voices, so we didn’t think it was important.”

The next morning, when he went downstairs, he found “a strong police operation and everyone commenting that someone had thrown a stone at the Etecsa window.” continue reading

Obispo Street, a pedestrian street widely used to walk through the historic center of Havana, “was practically blocked by the police and a criminalistics car.”

“They were asking the neighbors if anyone had seen something, but the same thing happened to everyone as had happened to me, I was sleeping at the time everything happened, which I calculate was around three in the morning, because I woke up and then I had a hard time falling asleep.”

The neighbor insists that “people were not very cooperative with the police because nobody here wants to be a snitch,” but he thinks: “That window was an ostentation with its very expensive telephones that nobody can buy, the strange thing is that no one threw a rock through it earlier.”

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Diaz-Canel Calls For Extreme Measures in the Face of the Covid Increase in Cuba

The usual crowds that gather in Cuba favor contagion, on the rise in recent days. (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 30 March 2022 — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called for extreme sanitary measures to prevent a new wave of COVID-19 infections despite the progress of the massive immunization campaign, the official press reported on Tuesday.

According to the official Granma newspaper, during their weekly meeting with Díaz-Canel, scientists advising the government predicted a progressive increase in confirmed cases and hospitalizations.

The Island has recorded between 600 and nearly 1,000 new daily cases in recent days, after they stabilized at around 500 at the beginning of the month, but far from the figures of the highest part of the last great wave in July and August of last year, when infections reached 9,000 per day.

Cuba has accumulated a week without deaths related to the disease during the month of March.

These results, the scientists pointed out, are due in part to the coverage of the immunization campaign with the three vaccines produced and developed in the country.

Nearly 10 million people, of the 11.2 million inhabitants of the Island, have received the complete immunization schedule with local vaccines. This is 95% of the vaccine-eligible population. In addition, 6.2 million Cubans have received the booster dose.

However, cases have been increasing in recent days and experts attribute this situation to the relaxation of precautions among citizens.

In this sense, the experts warned that “the provinces of Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Ávila have remained the epicenter of the epidemic this year.”

Following the latest epidemiological reports, the authorities have sent teams of specialists to the most affected territories to assess the situation in order to avoid new strains on the health system.

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